One Sweet World
by othfan93
Summary: My Season 8. Brooke and Julian help two teenagers in foster care. Nathan quits basketball and coaches the Ravens
1. Chapter 1

"Did you find your next movie yet?"

"Brooke, I'm on page three of the first script."

"So does that mean you're going to read all day instead?"

"Why? What did you have in mind?" Julian looked up from the script he'd been reading for the first time. All Brooke was wearing was black lingerie and a Pink Ladies jacket from Grease 2. As soon as he saw her, the script was the last thing on his mind.

"Grease 2."

"Yeah, I like your idea better. Let me get my T Bird jacket." Julian left the forgotten script on the breakfast bar and disappeared into the bedroom.

Haley knocked and opened the front door. "Hey."

Brooke moved behind the island in the kitchen and pulled the jacket tight around her. "Hi."

"That's a cool jacket. What is that? Grease?" Haley was oblivious to what she'd just walked in on.

"Grease 2 actually."

"Oh, I never saw that."

"Get ready for my grease lightning." Julian returned to the kitchen in a black leather jacket. He froze when he saw Haley.

Haley finally realized what she'd walked in on. "Oh! Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. Speaking of that, I'm pregnant. Don't hate me." The words spilled out quickly. She was out the door before Brooke could respond.

"Congratulations, selfish baby haver!" Brooke called as the door shut behind Haley. Her eyebrows arched as she turned to Julian. "Your grease lighting?"

Julian shrugged. "So Haley's pregnant again."

"Yeah, it's gonna be really good for them. She's been so sad since her mom died. Now they'll have a new baby. I'm really happy for her." Brooke said all the right things. If Julian hadn't known her, he would have believed she meant every word. But, he knew her. He could read her facial expressions. He could look into her hazel eyes and detect untold truths.

Julian saw right through Brooke's act. He knew she was genuinely happy for Haley, but her happiness was overshadowed by jealousy. She would be there for Haley throughout the pregnancy even if it killed her to see her best friend having another child when she couldn't even have one. "A little selfish, though."

Brooke felt a sense of relief. Julian said what she was thinking, but would never say aloud. She wasn't the only one who was jealous. She wasn't a terrible person. She said what she was really thinking, knowing Julian would understand. "Totally selfish. They already have Jamie, and we can't even have one."

"So greedy."

"Maybe we could kidnap this one." The light joke relayed just how badly Brooke wanted a baby. She would never kidnap one, but she would do anything legal to be able to have a child of her own.

"Or maybe you could meet me in the bedroom and I could romance your ovaries some more until they surrender."

"Ovaries isn't very sexy."

"No, I know. I'm gonna change." Haley's announcement had ruined the mood.

Brooke heard someone knocking on the door. She wasn't in the mood for guests. She was drowning in self-pity. She didn't know if she could force herself to put on a happy face. "At least I have pants on this time," she muttered as she crossed the living room to answer the door.

Two uniformed policemen stood on the porch. "Brooke Davis?"

"I was totally joking about the kidnapping thing."

"You're under arrest."

Brooke's eyes widened in shock and horror. "Wait, why? What did I do? Julian! Julian!"

Just when Brooke thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. The police could not have chosen a worse time. They listed off charges. Brooke didn't know what the charges meant. She just knew she hadn't done anything wrong.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"

Brooke held her tongue. There was so much to say. She wanted to proclaim her innocence. She wanted answers to her questions about the charges. She wanted to make the policemen regret the day they showed up on her doorstep. As much as she wanted answers, she wasn't stupid; she would not talk to the police without her lawyer. She nodded to signal that she understood her rights.

The simple nod was the catalyst for the officers to handcuff Brooke. They led her to the back of the squad car. Normally she would have been embarrassed to leave the house wearing a Pink Ladies jacket. Fear took over. It didn't even occur to her to be embarrassed.

* * *

The officers led Brooke to a holding cell to wait for her lawyer. This experience was completely different from the last time she was in jail. The last time she'd known what she'd done-stealing clothes that were her stolen designs from Suburban Filth. She'd also been with Peyton and Haley. This time she didn't know what she'd done and she was alone.

Brooke paced back and forth across the small length of the holding cell. It had only been a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Even one minute was too long to be in jail for a crime she had not committed. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door connecting the station to the cells opened. She waited expectantly for her lawyer. Her relief was short-lived. It was not her lawyer, but a policeman and a young girl.

Brooke stared at the girl. She was so young. She was petite and skinny. Her small size made her look especially young. She had straight chocolate brown hair that fell about two inches past her shoulders.

"Can I lose the bracelets?" The girl held up her handcuffed wrists. The officer freed her wrists. She breezed by Brooke and took a seat on the bench.

Brooke studied her with mild curiosity. They were both in a holding cell, uncertain what the future held for them. The uncertainty alone was enough to scare Brooke. The young girl before her did not look the least bit scared. Her hazel eyes were clear. Her expression hardened into a stone mask that covered her emotions.

Sarah could feel Brooke's eyes on her. She looked at Brooke. She expected Brooke to look away, but Brooke's eyes bored into hers. The eye contact made Sarah more uncomfortable than the holding cell. She broke eye contact. "Take a picture. It lasts longer."

The rude remark took Brooke by surprise. She realized she knew nothing about this girl. The girl may look young and naïve, but she was anything but. Brooke didn't know what the girl was arrested for or what she was capable of. Brooke stopped staring.

The holding cell was silent. The silence made Brooke uncomfortable. She fought the urge to fill the silence by making conversation.

A policeman approached the cell. Brooke was grateful for his presence. "Hey kid."

The girl's reaction wasn't what Brooke expected. She expected relief at being picked up from jail or even fear at facing her parents after whatever she had done. Instead, the girl simply asked, "What?" Her tone was bored.

"Your foster parents aren't coming. You're stuck here until Social Services opens on Monday morning."

The policeman's words shed light on the girl's behavior. She reminded Brooke of Sam. Sam acted out for the attention she desperately craved but had never gotten. She expected people to give up on her. Even Brooke had almost given up on her. She would never forget the words that caused her to reconsider.

"_You didn't come home last night." _

"_It's not my home. Besides, you said I could come and go as I please, so I left."_

"_That is not what I meant. I was worried about you." Brooke had searched high and low for the teenager she'd only known a short time. It may not have been long, but Sam had certainly been busy. She'd stolen from Brooke not once, but three times. Sam stole a top from Clothes Over Bros, Brooke's ID and Brooke's wallet. Brooke looked at Sam for any sign of remorse. She found none. "Sam, I can't help you if you're not willing to be helped. Apparently you'd rather eat here than in my kitchen, and you want to sleep in a car instead of my guest room. And I don't know what to do for you. I just don't think this is going to work." _

"_That's OK. I'm used to people giving up on me. It happens all the time. See that waitress over there? That's my mom. One day I'm gonna tell her who I am and what a big mistake she made. Like I said I'm used to people giving up on me. Thanks anyway." Sam's façade disappeared and the emotions she'd buried deep within tumbled to the surface. Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice was thick with tears._

The memory was bittersweet. Brooke loved Sam as if she was her own daughter. She'd even decided to make it official and adopt Sam, but Sam wanted to live with her "real" mom. Brooke would never be able to be a "real" mom.

Brooke stared at the teenager who had just been told that her foster parents were giving up on her. Unlike Sam, this girl didn't betray any sign of emotion.

"If I can't leave until Monday, can I at least get my book?"

"I'll see what I can do."

The policeman returned a few minutes later. He passed a paperback novel and an iPod to the girl through the bars.

The girl broke into a dimpled smile. "Thanks."

Brooke stared at her incredulously. Not only had she just been told that her foster parents were giving up on her, but she was also stuck in this cell for one day and two nights. "What are you so happy about? You're in jail."

"There are worse places than jail."

Brooke couldn't think of many places worse than jail. She would rather be just about anywhere than here.

Brooke knew not all foster parents provided a loving home. Sam had never gone into detail, but the fact that she would rather sleep in a car than the foster home she ran away from spoke volumes. Still, a car was a far cry from a jail cell. What could be so bad that this girl would rather sleep in jail? Brooke's lawyer arranged for her release before she could find out the answer.

* * *

Brooke fled the jail and ran into Julian's waiting arms.

"So your mom's gonna meet you at the store with Millicent. Is there anything I can do?"

"You're doing it right now. Just take me to the store."

* * *

Brooke remained in her store after Victoria and Millicent left. They left after telling her they had lied to investors. She wasn't ready to face the world yet. She was still trying to grasp the very real possibility that she could lose her company. Her identity was so closely tied to Clothes Over Bros. If she lost her company, she would lose more than just a store. She would lose herself as well.

Julian came into the store. He always seemed to know when she needed him. He didn't say anything. He just stood by her side. He reached for her hand. It was a reminder that she wasn't alone.

"I could lose the company. I could lose everything."

Julian looked at the woman who could do anything she put her mind to. He'd never seen her so defeated. He hated to see her this way. "Not everything."

"I feel a little weak. I was so scared when I was in jail. There was this young girl in my jail cell. She wasn't scared of anything."

"You were arrested and you didn't even know why. Being scared doesn't make you weak. Facing your fears makes you strong. You are strong, Brooke Davis."


	2. Chapter 2

In the past forty-eight hours, Haley had said countless prayers in the hospital chapel. All of the prayers were for the same two people-Clay and Quinn. Haley had lost so much in the last year. She'd been drowning in grief since her mom's death. She felt like she'd finally fought her way to the surface only to be pushed back under. One more loss would be enough to pull her back into the dark depths of despair.

She was sitting in the chapel again. Nathan was at her side. She leaned on him now more than ever. He'd been the one constant in her life since junior year. They were better together, a lesson they'd each learned the hard way. He helped her fight to the surface after her mom's death, and he would do everything in his power to prevent her from sinking again, including giving Clay a kidney to save his life and save Haley from yet another loss.

"They ran some tests on my back. It's getting worse."

Haley lifted her head from his shoulder. Her eyes widened. Her forehead creased in concern. "What?"

"I didn't tell you because of Clay and Quinn and Brooke and everything you've had to deal with, but my back is degenerating. I could maybe play this season and even next and it could be fine, but nobody can say for sure. The only thing we know for sure is if I do this for Clay I could maybe save his life."

Haley's lips formed into a faint smile. It was the first time she'd smiled since she found Quinn and Clay's lifeless bodies in pools of their own blood. "I love you. I love the person you are, your strength."

Nathan smirked. Before Haley, he was one of the most selfish people on the planet. Haley changed him. She brought out the best in him when no one else saw anything good in him. It was because of her that he was a good man who would make a selfless sacrifice to save another man's life today. "Where do you think I learned it?"

* * *

"Goodnight, Aunt Brooke. Julian." Jamie's small voice traveled from the bed in Brooke's guest room to the doorway where Brooke and Julian stood. His small form was lost among the blankets in the large queen sized bed.

"Goodnight, Buddy."

"Aunt Brooke…Julian, you guys are going to be great parents someday." Jamie would never know how much those sweet words hurt.

Brooke looked away from the sweet and innocent child and met Julian's gaze. His brown eyes reflected the same pain in her hazel eyes.

They wanted a child. They knew Jamie was right. They would be great parents. But, by some cruel twist of fate, they would never be able to have a child. And yet 2,800 teenage girls get pregnant every day. Most of those girls would not be good parents. They were still children themselves. Brooke would never understand why they were able to get pregnant when she couldn't. It wasn't fair. Not to her and definitely not to the children.

"It was nice having Jamie today. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but despite everything, it was a good day."

"He likes being with his Aunt Brooke."

"No, he likes being with you. I like seeing you two together. I love that you're so good to him." When Brooke saw Julian with Jamie, she knew he would be a good dad. Jamie's history with Nanny Carrie made it difficult for him to trust anyone new, but Julian had earned his trust. Julian's easy relationship with Jamie was yet another painful reminder that he would never be able to have his own child.

"Does it make you a little sad?" Julian knew the answer to his question. He was the only person who completely understood how Brooke felt because he felt it, too.

"Yeah." As much as they'd loved having Jamie, the day had been a teaser. Julian would never have his own child to play catch with. Brooke would never have her own child to tuck in at night. The day with Jamie made them even more certain they wanted a child, but at the end of the day, Brooke was still infertile.

"I know." They were parents without a child. They had so much love to give. "Would you ever want to foster another child?"

Brooke had asked herself the same question countless times since Sam left. She'd never been able to answer it. "I don't know. I want a child so much, but when Sam left, it was really hard. What if we foster another child and it doesn't work out?" She didn't know if she could handle another child she loved leaving.

"I know. I loved Sam, too. So what's happening with the company?"

"My mom says we're keeping the company, and that she and the attorneys can handle everything."

"But do we trust her this time?"

"Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever trust her again."

* * *

Nathan knew he could find Haley in one of two places-her post in Quinn's hospital room or in the hospital chapel. She was in the chapel.

"I'm not a match, but it doesn't matter. I'm not going to be a Bobcat. I don't want to leave you and Jamie with everything going on."

It was so like Nathan to put her first, but she didn't want to be the reason his dream didn't come true. "Nathan, we promised to go after our dreams. I don't want you to give up on yours because of me."

"I don't even know if I could play this season. I talked to the athletic director at Tree Hill High School. I'm the Ravens' head coach. They haven't won a game since Lucas left. They need all the help they can get."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. This way basketball is still a part of my life. Plus, I like helping other players. I can make them better."

* * *

Nathan had a lot on his mind. Clay beat the odds, but he and Quinn were still in the hospital. Nathan had just seen the tapes of his team. The athletic director expected him to turn things around, but he didn't have one player with star power. He would do the best he could with what he had to work with, but he didn't know if the Ravens would ever be the winning team they once were.

Nathan went to the one place that could always make him forget everything on his mind. When he was on the river court, his problems faded into the background. He had been lost in his own world, skillfully dunking the ball, for nearly an hour when a boy joined him on the court. The boy started shooting hoops on the other side of the court. He was good. He was really good. He reminded Nathan of a young Lucas, not just in skill, but also in looks.

The boy had a similar build to Lucas-athletic, but he definitely needed to spend some time bulking up in the weight room. He had dirty blonde hair and a boyish face. He even dressed like Lucas. He was wearing a plain grey hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

Nathan watched the boy sink free throw after free throw, never missing a shot. He'd gone to the river court to escape his problems, but the solution to one of his problems was right in front of him. With his help, this boy could lead the Ravens to victory.

"Hi. I'm Nathan Scott."

The boy ignored Nathan and continued shooting until Nathan seized the ball as it came sailing through the net. The boy's dark eyes pierced Nathan's blue eyes. "And you are?"

"Tyler. Tyler Atkins. That's my ball." It was directed at Nathan as an accusation. The boy's tone was ripe with attitude.

It would take more than a bad attitude to scare Nathan away. He knew that buried beneath the attitude was a good person. Nathan's own attitude prevented everyone but Haley from seeing the good in him when they were in high school. She saw past the cockiness and brought out the good in him. "Do you go to Tree Hill High School?"

Tyler just wanted his ball back. He didn't want to talk to anyone, especially not Nathan. He didn't trust adults. "Yeah."

"I'm the new head coach of the men's varsity basketball team."

"Good for you."

Nathan frowned at the blatant disrespect. "Do you want to play?"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Tyler's response surprised Nathan. He'd never known anyone who didn't want to play for the Ravens. Lucas had been afraid, but he'd wanted to play. Skillz had seen the value in playing for the Ravens. Quentin was willing to do whatever it took to play basketball on the team. Why didn't Tyler want to play?


	3. Chapter 3

Nathan, Haley, Julian and Brooke were at Tric catching up. It was the first time they'd all been together outside of the hospital since Clay and Quinn were shot. A lot had happened in the meantime.

"I still can't believe Bitchtoria is in prison," Haley said.

"I still can't believe she lied to our investors and compromised the financial integrity of my company." Brooke's mom and Millicent went behind her back and in the process nearly cost Brooke her company and her freedom. Victoria had sacrificed herself to save Brooke. It was a start, but Victoria still had a long way to go before Brooke could trust her again.

"Is she with murderers?" Haley asked.

"What? You mean, like my dad?" Nathan joked.

"No, she's with white collar criminals and drug dealers. My mother says it's like a country club."

"How screwed up are our parents? My dad's a murderer and my mom's a former drug addict who had sex with Skillz. Your mom's a-"

"Vampire who not only sucks blood, but also sucks the good out of everything," Brooke finished Nathan's sentence.

"My dad's the male version of Bitchtoria and my mom's kind of a train wreck," Julian said.

"At least your parents are alive," Haley said.

* * *

Tyler and Sarah walked down the street. They kept their eyes open for a car to steal. They didn't need a car, but they did need the money they would make from the stolen car.

Sarah stopped to admire a sleek Range Rover parked outside of Tric. "What about this one?"

Tyler shook his head. "Nah, that car's new. It has an alarm." He surveyed the parking lot. An older Ford Bronco caught his eye. "This one doesn't have an alarm."

"Watch and learn, little sister." Tyler raised a crow bar and brought it down, shattering the window on the driver's side. The motion was one he'd repeated several times in the last year. In all the times he'd stolen cars, he'd only been caught once. He lost everything when he was arrested. He had nothing left to lose. There was nothing to fear.

Brooke, Julian, Haley and Nathan walked toward their cars together.

"Julian!" Brooke's warning tone got everyone's undivided attention. They followed her gaze to Julian's car and watched as a teenage boy broke the window.

Brooke recognized Sarah as her cellmate. She stared at the young girl, her eyes boring into Sarah's eyes. There was no remorse in her eyes. There was no fear even though she'd just been caught red-handed. "They should have left you in jail."

Nathan had been looking for Tyler ever since their first encounter at the river court. After a few practices with his team, Nathan knew Tyler was his only hope at winning this season. He needed Tyler and he would do whatever it took to convince Tyler to play. This was the last place Nathan expected to find Tyler, but he was still glad he had. He grabbed Tyler's arm to prevent him from fleeing the scene of the crime. Tyler struggled, but Nathan was bigger and stronger. "I can see why you didn't want to play basketball. You're too busy stealing cars."

Nathan gave Tyler a glimmer of hope. He latched onto it. "I'll do it. I'll play. If you let her go." He didn't want Sarah to suffer the consequences for his actions.

"You're not going to help the team if you're in jail."

"So don't call the police then." Tyler's attitude was back.

"It's not up to me. It's his car." Nathan looked at Julian.

Julian stared at the broken shards of glass where the driver's side window used to be. "I liked my window."

"If you do this, Tyler will fix the window in Keith's old auto shop. I have keys."

"How do you know he'll do it?"

"Because I know his name, and I _will_ call the police if he doesn't."

"I said I'd do it, didn't I?"

"Practice is at 6:00 am sharp." Nathan released Tyler's arm.

Tyler looked at Sarah. "Let's go." Tyler and Sarah made a hasty exit before Julian could change his mind.

* * *

Julian brushed shards of broken glass off of his seat before he got in the car.

"That's the girl who was in jail with me."

"Now we know why she was in jail. Grand theft auto."

"She kind of reminds me of Sam."

"Sam was a good kid."

Brooke loved Julian for defending Sam. He didn't know Sam until after she'd been with Brooke for over a month. In that month, Sam had changed from a juvenile delinquent to a good kid. Brooke felt a sense of pride that she'd played a role in Sam's transformation. "Well, I caught Sam shoplifting and she assaulted me."

"Sam stole a top. This girl steals cars."

"I feel bad for her."

"I feel bad for my car."

* * *

Nathan and Haley were having a similar conversation in their car.

"That's the kid I was telling you about. He's really good."

"He has a bad attitude."

"He's like Quentin." Nathan knew Haley had a soft spot for Quentin.

Haley jumped to the defense of Quentin even though he'd given her a hard time when she started teaching. "Quentin was a good kid. He was just afraid to show it."

"Maybe Tyler's a good kid, too. I was just like them. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't have changed."

"I hope you can help him."

"I hope so, too."

* * *

The team had been warming up shooting free throws for about ten minutes when Tyler walked into the gym. Nathan looked at the clock. "You're late."

"I'm here, aren't I?" If Nathan thought giving Tyler a second chance would result in an attitude adjustment, he was sorely mistaken. The attitude was back and it was just as bad as ever.

Nathan handed Tyler two weights. "Start running."

"I thought you wanted me to play."

"I thought you wanted to stay out of prison." Those were the magic words. With the threat of prison, Tyler sprang into action.

Nathan went to his office after morning practice. He added Tyler to the roster first thing in the morning. That afternoon the grade printouts Nathan received for his players every week arrived. Tyler was ineligible because he was failing English.

Tyler was actually on time for practice after school. He proved himself on the court. He was not only the best player on the team, but he also had the potential to be as good as Nathan and Lucas were in their prime.

Nathan dismissed everyone else, but summoned Tyler. "Tyler, my office."

Tyler followed Nathan to his office. He slouched in the chair opposite Nathan and put his feet up on the desk. Nathan frowned. "You're ineligible to play because you have an F in English. My wife is going to tutor you after practice."

"Forget it."

"You're a good player. Maybe even as good as I was when I was in high school. But if you're not willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, you're wasting my time. You can listen to me or you can go to jail, do you get that?"

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Good. Let's go."

"What? Now?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Tyler walked into the foyer of Nathan's house and looked around in awe. "I didn't think high school coaches made money."

"They don't. NBA players and rock stars do."

"Rock stars?"

"My wife." Nathan led the way to the kitchen table where Haley was sitting with Jamie.

"Hi. I'm James Lucas Scott. Who are you?"

Tyler surprised Nathan and Haley by breaking into a dimpled smile. It was the first time Nathan had seen anything other than an angry scowl or cocky smirk on Tyler's face. Tyler did not trust adults, but he genuinely liked kids. "Tyler."

"Do you play basketball?"

"Yeah."

"Are you good?"

Nathan expected Tyler to get annoyed with Jamie's endless questions. Quite the contrary, Tyler looked entertained. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Nathan intervened because he knew Jamie would talk for hours at end. "He's not so good at English, though, so your mom's going to help him. What do you say we go to the river court?"

"Sit down, Tyler." Tyler stood defiantly for several seconds before obeying. "I talked to your teacher. She said you can read a book from this list and write a book report on it for extra credit." Haley handed Tyler a printout with the names of several novels.

Tyler reluctantly accepted the printout. "Okay."

"Good. Now I just want to get an idea as to what you need help with. Do you have any of your old essays or tests?"

"No."

"Okay, bring them tomorrow."

Tyler thought the tutoring would be once a week. His lip curled up in obvious disgust at the prospect of doing this again tomorrow. "Tomorrow?"

"Yes, Tyler, tomorrow. I can help you, but you need to put the time and effort in." Haley's no-nonsense tone left no room for argument. Her teaching career may have been short-lived, but she'd learned how to handle out of control teenagers. "Take out a pen and a piece of paper. I want you to write something…anything."

Tyler pulled a notebook that looked like it had never been opened from his backpack. "What do you want me to write?"

"Write about something that matters to you."


	4. Chapter 4

Haley tutored Tyler every day after practice. She'd set Friday as the deadline for the first draft of his book report because his first basketball game was Friday. He needed the extra credit in order to be eligible.

"Do you have your book report?"

"Yeah." Tyler pulled a handwritten essay from his backpack and handed it to her.

"Great. I'll look at it and we can edit it on Monday." Haley rewarded Tyler with a smile. Tyler didn't return the smile. "Are you nervous about the game tonight?"

"There are going to be a lot of people there."

"Nathan says you've been doing really well. Speaking of which, you should go before you're late for the game."

"Okay." This was the only time Tyler would rather be in tutoring than playing basketball. He knew he was good. He'd only ever played on the river court or in the empty gym, though. The thought of playing in a crowded gym didn't sit well with him.

Haley frowned as she read Tyler's paper. She'd seen his tests. He usually struggled with spelling and grammar. The reading comprehension issues he was having and the spelling mistakes he was making made Haley wonder if he might be dyslexic. The paper he'd given her was very well written. There was no way he could have written it.

Haley got on the computer and searched a few of the terms from Tyler's paper to see if he'd plagiarized. None of the terms returned any results.

"Hey!" Brooke called as she let herself in.

Jamie let go of her hand and ran toward Haley. "Hi Mama!"

"Hey guys." Haley smiled at Jamie. "Did you have fun with Aunt Brooke and Julian?"

Jamie nodded.

"Okay. Go get ready. We need to leave for the game in a few minutes."

"How are you doing?" Brooke asked as she sat down opposite Haley.

"I'm okay. How are you?"

"I'm going to lose my company. I don't know who I am without it. So much of who I am is tied to Clothes Over Bros."

"You've lost your company before."

"That was different."

"How?"

"I didn't lose it. I _gave_ it to Victoria. Even then I felt a little like I'd failed. Now I really feel like I failed." Last time she'd lost her company, she'd also had Sam as a distraction. Now she was left with nothing.

"Brooke, you did not fail! You started your own company when you were in high school. You've done more in your twenties than most people do in their lifetime."

Jamie joined them at the table. He'd changed into a Ravens jersey. "I'm ready."

"Brooke, is Julian coming?"

"He's meeting us there. He was filming Chase at Tric."

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

Julian was already sitting down in the bleachers when they arrived. They joined him.

Jamie broke into a smile when he saw Julian. "Julian!" He sat down beside Julian.

"Hey buddy."

The game started. Haley spotted Tyler on the court. "Oh, he looks so nervous. Poor thing."

"Who?" Brooke asked.

"Tyler. He's the one who tried to steal Julian's car." Haley pointed him out to Brooke.

Tyler's cocky smirk was gone. His face was a sickly white color. He kept darting nervous glances at the bleachers.

"I can't believe Nathan's actually letting him play."

"He's really good."

Within the first five minutes of the game, one of the Ravens passed the ball to Tyler. He was the only player who could make a basket from anywhere on the court. He caught it instinctively. Normally when Tyler had a basketball in his hands, he forgot about everything else. This was different. He couldn't block out the roar of the crowd. All eyeballs were on him. This wasn't an escape. This was a trap.

Tyler choked. It was the first time Nathan had ever seen him miss a basket.

"Really good, huh?" Brooke asked sarcastically.

"It looks like he sucks at stealing cars and basketball," Julian said.

Nathan called a time-out. He pulled Tyler aside. "Are you okay?"

Tyler shrugged Nathan's concern off. "Yeah."

"It's okay if you're nervous." Nathan remembered Lucas' first game as a Raven. He too had choked. Nathan thought Lucas would never set foot in the gym again. Lucas seriously considered quitting, but Whitey was able to talk him out of it. Nathan wanted to do the same for Tyler now. He wanted to help Tyler face his fears and overcome them.

"There are just a lot of people here." Tyler wasn't looking at Nathan; he was looking at the crowd.

"Is your family here? Play for them. They're the only ones who matter."

"No, my parents are in prison."

"My dad was in prison." Nathan smirked at Tyler's shocked expression. Tyler had expected shock or horror. He hadn't expected to discover he had something in common with Nathan. "Look, basketball is basketball. It doesn't matter where you're playing. It doesn't matter if you're on the river court by yourself or here in this gym with all these people. You're a good player. Forget about all these people and just play."

Nathan knew Tyler was their only shot at winning. The Ravens hadn't won a game all season. Most of the other players couldn't make a free throw if their lives depended on it. Tyler was good enough to lead the team to a victory. He just hoped he'd had the same impact on Tyler that Whitey had on Lucas. He would have to wait and see.

He didn't have to wait long. As soon as the Ravens had the ball, it invariably ended up in Tyler's hands. Tyler closed his eyes for a few seconds. He pictured the river court in his head. He opened his eyes and looked straight ahead at the basket. He didn't dare look at the crowd. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief when the ball went through the hoop. The crowd cheered loudly. Slowly Tyler broke into a cocky grin.

Tyler continued playing well for the rest of the game. He scored the game winning point in the last three seconds. The crowd erupted into applause. It was the first game they'd won all season.

"I take it back. He's better at basketball than stealing cars," Julian said.

"He is really good," Brooke said.

"Hey, can you guys take Jamie? I want to go talk to Nathan and Tyler," Haley said.

"Of course."

* * *

Julian and Brooke took Jamie to get ice cream.

"Are you sure we should give him sugar before bed?" Julian asked.

"Not our problem," Brooke said.

"If they don't want him, we could always take him," Julian joked.

"Don't say that. Last time I joked about kidnapping, I got arrested," Brooke said.

"You got arrested like Grandpa Dan?" Jamie asked.

"Unfortunately."

"Why?"

"My mother did something bad, and they thought I was involved."

"But you weren't, were you, Aunt Brooke?" Jamie's confidence in his Aunt Brooke never faltered. He knew how loving and kind she could be. He couldn't fathom that she was capable of doing something bad.

"No buddy."

"I know because you're really good. You're one of the best people I know."

"Thanks Jamie."

"What about me?" Julian asked.

"You're really good, too. But you're really bad at video games."

"Thanks," Julian said sarcastically.

"Sorry. You're good at other things like…well, you make Aunt Brooke happy."

"She makes me happy."

"I'm really glad you guys are getting married."

"Me too."

* * *

Haley stopped Nathan and Tyler before they went into the locker room. "Tyler, are your parents here?"

"No."

"I wanted to talk to them about something."

"Hales, his parents are in prison."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Who is your legal guardian?"

They were treading on dangerous grounds. Tyler knew one wrong move could have disastrous results. He didn't know what the right move was, though. Too afraid he would say the wrong thing, he said nothing.

"Where do you live?" Haley asked.

"I'm staying at a friend's place."

"Are you in foster care?"

"No. My mom kicked me out before she was arrested."

"Why?"

"I stole a car…got arrested. She was drunk and pissed off." Tyler had just told two people he'd known for less than a week more than he'd told any adult in the last year. He didn't want to tell them his life story, but he was at a loss for words. He couldn't come up with a better story off the top of his head so he was left with the ugly truth.

"Okay, I can get you some help."

Tyler snickered. "What help? I'm not going into foster care." He did not want to go into foster care, but he knew there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it Haley and Nathan reported him.

"You're sixteen years old. You shouldn't have to take care of yourself right now."

"It's better than foster care."

"You don't know that. There has to be something better out there for you."

"Look, my sister is in foster care. It's not so good. There's no way I'm going into foster care. So you can call Child Protective Services and report me, but if you do, I'm not going to stick around. Your husband's going to lose his top scorer."

"My only scorer," Nathan muttered under his breath.

Haley was torn. She knew she should report Tyler. She had to believe there was something better out there for him, but she knew she was being idealistic. As unfair as it was, there were too many children out there who had no one protecting them. "Okay. Maybe you should come with us tonight and we can figure this out in the morning."

"So you can report me while I'm sleeping? Yeah, I don't think so." Tyler may not be book smart, but he was street smart. He didn't trust any adults. Haley and Nathan knew too much.

"You think I'm going to lose my top scorer? Come on. We won't do anything tonight. I promise," Nathan said.

Tyler didn't know whether to believe Nathan or not. He knew Nathan did not want to lose him. Nathan hadn't worked this hard to get him on the team only to push him away.

* * *

Jamie was shooting baskets in the driveway when they got home. Julian was standing to the side of the hoop, throwing the ball back to Jamie after he shot. Brooke was watching with a smile on her face. She loved how good Julian was with Jamie.

Jamie ran to Tyler. Tyler was his new hero for winning the game. Julian and Brooke were long forgotten. "Tyler! You're really good!"

Tyler chuckled. The smile reserved for Jamie played across his face. "Thanks. I saw you shooting around. You're not bad, but can you do this?" Tyler took the ball from Jamie and dunked it.

"No, but Daddy can."

"What about this?" Tyler backed away from the hoop. He stood several feet away facing the opposite direction as the hoop. He threw the ball over his head. He heard the distinct swoosh as the ball sank through the net.

Jamie's eyes widened. He tried to copy Tyler, but his attempt missed the basket by a long shot.

"That's enough. Jamie, go get ready for bed," Haley said.

* * *

Tyler felt like an intruder. He'd been in their house before, but that was different. It was one thing to be there for tutoring sessions. It was another thing entirely to stay there. He'd only ever stayed with friends. As the others made themselves comfortable, Tyler lingered in the foyer. "Should I take the couch?"

"No, you can stay in the guest room, but I want to talk to you. Come sit down." Haley indicated an empty chair at the kitchen table.

"You said we weren't going to do anything tonight." Tyler didn't trust them to begin with. The fact that Haley was already going back on her word solidified his belief that he couldn't trust adults.

"That's not what this is about." Haley waited for Tyler to take a seat. Once he did, she held his paper up. "Can you explain this?"

The anger dissolved leaving confusion in its place. Tyler expected a long, drawn out conversation in which Haley tried to convince him that foster care wasn't without merit. He hadn't expected an impromptu tutoring session. "It's a book report."

"A book report that you didn't write." It was not a question, but a statement of fact. Haley left no room for argument. She didn't sound angry, but rather disappointed.

"I had a little help."

"From who?"

"My sister. Look, I'm not good at school."

"I think there's a reason you're having a hard time. Tyler, have you ever been tested for a learning disability?"

"What? No!"

"I've been looking over your tests and writing. I think you might have dyslexia, but it's weird; your grades were good until last year. Did anything happen last year?"

So much had happened last year. His mom kicked him out because he got arrested. He hadn't lived in the same house as his sister since the day he was arrested. "My sister always helped me."

"And by help you mean did your work for you?"

"No. Well, yeah. Look, she tried to help me, but when I didn't understand, she-"

"Did it for you," Haley finished. "Okay. Well, I'm going to need to talk to her. Can you call her and ask her to come over here?" She didn't condone Sarah doing Tyler's work for him. Not only was cheating wrong, but it had also hurt Tyler in the long run. He'd turned in work completed by Sarah and none of his teachers had known he'd needed help. If he'd been unable to complete the work, he would have gotten the help that he needed.

Tyler pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Sarah's number. "Hey. Can you come talk to my coach's wife?"

"No." He could barely hear Sarah's response. Loud music and chatter in the background drowned out the sound of her voice.

"Where are you?"

"A party at Joe's. You should come! Everyone's here." Sarah was slurring her words together. In the last year, Sarah started drinking like a fish and smoking like a chimney. She was turning into their mother before Tyler's eyes and he was powerless to stop it. He'd tried talking to her, but she didn't listen to anyone. She did whatever she wanted.

"Be careful." Tyler hung up and looked at Haley. "She can't make it."

"Okay, we'll talk about this more in the morning. Nathan will show you where you're staying."

* * *

"What's Tyler doing here?" The question had been on Brooke's mind since Haley and Nathan arrived with Tyler. She waited until after Nathan and Tyler disappeared up the stairs to ask it.

"He's going to stay here tonight. His parents are in prison. He's been staying at a friend's place."

"Does stealing cars run in the family?"

"I don't know what they did."

"I would put your car keys somewhere where he can't find them," Julian joked.

"He doesn't need keys when he has a crow bar," Brooke said.

"You guys, he's been doing really good," Nathan said as he joined them at the table. He looked at Haley. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

"Well, do you want him to stay here?" Nathan couldn't ask Haley to take Tyler in when they had Jamie and she was pregnant with another child, but he secretly hoped she was thinking along the same lines as him. He had no doubt that Tyler would run away from a foster home. He didn't want to lose his star player.

"What about Jamie? Don't you think prison break would be a bad influence on him?" Julian asked.

"Hey, if you have any ideas, let's hear them," Haley said.

"Well, he could stay with us," Brooke said tentatively. She looked at Julian to gauge his reaction.

Julian smiled. He'd been waiting for Brooke to say that. After their conversation about fostering another child, he'd known it was only a matter of time until she realized it was what she wanted. She was a mother without a child.

"Brooke, are you sure? Because I would totally understand if this wasn't a good time with everything going on with your company," Haley said.

"Maybe that's what makes this a good time. I need something to focus on other than losing my company."

Tyler came downstairs. He'd changed out of the suit they were required to wear on game days and into a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Everyone stopped talking abruptly. It was a dead giveaway that they'd been talking about him. They were probably talking about what to do with him. He paused at the foot of the stairs. "Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." He turned to go back upstairs.

"No, Tyler, it's okay," Haley said.

"Can I, uh, have a glass of water?"

"Sure. Glasses are in the cabinet over the sink."

"Thanks." Tyler got a glass and filled it with water.

"Tyler, we have an extra room. It's yours if you want it," Brooke said. She had said the same exact words to Sam. The painful memory reminded Brooke why she wasn't sure if she wanted to take in another kid that wasn't really hers. What if Tyler found a place in her heart and he left her, too? What would happen when his parents got out of prison?

A blush crept over Tyler's cheeks. He didn't want Brooke and Julian to do him any favors. "You really don't have to do that."

"I know we don't have to. We want to."

"Why would you want me to stay with you? I tried to steal your car."

"Yeah, I know. No more stealing."

Tyler's lips slowly formed into a hesitant smile. Staying with Brooke and Julian would be a hell of a lot better than being put into the foster care system.


	5. Chapter 5

Brooke lay awake in bed for hours. After showing Tyler the guest room that was now his room, Brooke had been left wondering if he'd still be there in the morning. Sam had a bad habit of leaving through the window. Breaking that habit had been a painstaking process.

Eventually exhaustion overcame unease and Brooke drifted off into a restless sleep. The worry that Tyler would vanish without a trace never left, not even while she was sleeping. She woke up earlier than normal. She knew she wouldn't have a moment's peace until she made sure Tyler was still there.

Brooke turned the knob of Tyler's room and opened it quietly. She saw the all-too familiar sight of an empty bed. Her gaze flickered to the window, but it wasn't open. Maybe Tyler was brazen enough to use the front door.

Brooke's disappointment was short-lived. She turned to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and saw Tyler in the kitchen. Her heart swelled at the sight. He didn't run off; he was cooking breakfast. The sweet gesture surprise her more than it would have if he'd pulled a disappearing act.

"Is that bacon?"

"Yeah."

"If you made breakfast, you did something or you want something." That was conventional wisdom speaking, but somehow Brooke knew that wasn't the case with Tyler. Her teasing tone was accented with a smile.

Tyler was used to people thinking the worst of him. He slowly looked up from the frying pan, almost as if he was afraid of what he would see. One look at Brooke and he relaxed, breaking into a dimpled smile. "Yeah, I want to eat."

They sat down at the table together. Brooke was amazed at how well this was going. It had taken her a long time to get to this same place with Sam. Sam had also made her breakfast, but not until after she snuck out, stayed out all night and topped it all by throwing a party in Brooke's store and ruining Peyton's wedding dress in the process.

"This is really good."

"I usually made breakfast. My mom's not much of a cook."

"Neither is Brooke," Julian said as he walked into the kitchen. Brooke looked mildly offended by the good-natured insult, which caused Tyler to chuckle. Julian joined them at the table and helped himself.

Julian was usually good at reading people, but he couldn't make heads or tails of Tyler. Tyler was a walking paradox. The car stealing punk with a criminal record was a stark contrast with the boy who was good with kids and woke up early to make breakfast. "Did you learn how to cook in prison?" The sarcastic undertone complemented by Julian's signature smirk didn't save him from a look of condemnation from Brooke.

Tyler's eyebrows arched up slightly. His wide eyes showed his surprise at the question, but a half-smile told Julian he was more amused than offended. "I've never been in prison."

"You said you were arrested for stealing a car."

"I was, but my lawyer got me off. I didn't have any priors."

* * *

After breakfast, they went over to Haley's house. Haley still wanted to talk to Tyler's sister and get to the bottom of what was preventing him from doing well in school. She wanted to ask Sarah some questions about what she'd done to try to help Tyler before she started doing his work for him. She wanted to know what hadn't worked for him, so she could figure out what would. "Call your sister. I need to talk to her."

Tyler dialed Sarah's cell. It rang several times. He was about to hang up when she finally answered. "What time is it?"

"Uh…ten."

"Why the hell are you calling me this early on a Saturday?"

"Because you have to come talk to my coach's wife."

"I don't _have_ to do anything."

"We have to do this, okay? I have to play and I can't do that unless I'm doing better in English. If I don't play, we'll both go to prison."

"Fine. Give me the address."

About a half hour later Sarah arrived at Haley's house. Her clothes were wrinkled from having been slept in and smelled like beer and cigarette smoke.

"Can you explain this?" Haley held up Tyler's book report.

"No."

"I think you know exactly what it is."

"It looks like Tyler's book report."

"That's funny because he said you wrote it."

Sarah looked at Tyler with fury in her eyes. "What the hell, Tyler? It wasn't plagiarized. There's no way they could have proved you cheated if you didn't admit to it."

Haley frowned. Sarah wasn't sorry. She didn't understand that she had prevented Tyler from getting the help he needed. This wasn't about cheating. This was about Tyler's learning disorder going undetected for sixteen years. "Sarah, I think your brother has a learning disability. If you wouldn't have done his work for him, his teachers could have figured it out and gotten him some help."

"I haven't always done his work for him. His teachers didn't figure it out. They didn't help him. They just gave him Fs." Sarah's voice contained fury, not remorse. She would not apologize for helping her brother. Haley didn't know what the hell she was talking about. Sarah didn't start helping him until he was in the third grade. She helped him because no one else, including his teachers, would.

Tyler jumped to Sarah's defense. "She meant well. I was failing. My parents were pissed off. My mom said I was stupid and my dad kicked my ass."

Haley had been more worried than angry, but now any residual anger dissolved. How could she be angry with a child who had been battling a learning disorder with no help whatsoever from his teachers or parents? Sarah hadn't been equipped to help him; she was just a child. It wasn't too late for him. Haley was bound and determined to make sure he got the help he needed. "Okay. When did you start doing his work for him?"

"When he was in the third grade."

"Did you even try to help him or did you just do it for him?"

"I tried to help him."

"How?"

"I told him to ask me if he didn't know a word when he was reading. It took forever to read a book. He had trouble with the same words over and over again. I checked his papers before he turned them in. By the time I fixed all the spelling errors, they were unreadable."

Haley nodded. The new information supported her theory that Tyler was dyslexic. "And it was easier to do it for him. No, I'm not blaming you. You couldn't have known. But how did you do his work for him? You're a year younger."

"Sarah's smart. I don't know where she gets it. She sure as hell doesn't get it from our parents. I think there was a mix-up at the hospital and she's not really my sister."

"Sarah, you're a really good writer," Haley said.

Sarah smirked. "Thanks." The thank you was more sarcastic than sincere. The praise made her uncomfortable. She wasn't used to it.

Haley turned her attention back to Tyler. "Okay. I'm going to recommend someone who can test you for dyslexia and a specialist who can help you."

"How many cars do you think he's going to have to steal to pay for that?" Sarah said sarcastically.

"I'll pay for it," Brooke said.

"No. I can't take your money," Tyler said.

"You can take my car, but you can't take my money?"

"You've already done more than enough."

"I want to do this for you."


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are you going?"

Tyler stopped en route to the door. The question caught him by surprise. "There's a party."

"Is there going to be drinking at this party?" Julian asked.

Tyler smirked at the question. He didn't know what kind of party wouldn't have drinking, but he'd never been much of a drinker. He'd seen what alcoholism and drugs had done to his mom and he was determined not to end up like her. "Well, yeah, but I'm not going to be drinking."

Brooke smirked at Julian's question as well. She knew better than anyone what high school parties were like. Leave it to a former mathlete to be completely clueless. "Have fun. Curfew is 12:00 sharp."

Tyler was going to a party at Joe's house. Joe was their old neighbor. At 22, he already had a hefty police record. The time he'd served in prison did little to change his ways. He ran a chop shop out of his garage. Tyler had done business with him on more than one occasion. His house was _the_ place to party, but his parties weren't the typical high school keg parties. They drew in a different crowd.

Tyler worked his way through the crowded house. Most of the kids he'd grown up with were there. The majority of them had been in jail or juvy at some point in their lives. The majority of them were in a gang. The majority of them had a dark past and would have an even darker future.

Tyler followed the beat coming from the sound system and found his best friend, Mark, acting as DJ in the living room. They were thick as thieves, and for good reason, they were partners in crime. Their fists met as a greeting and they both broke into smiles.

"Where you been Man?"

"I've been busy with basketball."

"The school team? They suck."

"Not anymore."

"Just don't get so busy you forget your boy. I know you're not blowing me off to hang out with the rich kids on the team."

"It's not like that. I'm just doing this to keep Sarah's ass out of prison."

"Sarah's ass? Don't you mean both your asses?"

Tyler shrugged.

"Have you seen Sarah yet?"

"Nah. Is she here?"

"Yeah. She's wasted."

That was an understatement. Sarah had started drinking early and kept a steady flow of drinks all night. By 11:42, her body probably had more alcohol in it than blood. She weaved back and forth en route from the kitchen to the living room.

It was getting late. The crowd was thinning out. Sarah was one of very few girls left at the party. It didn't take long for a horny teenage boy to spot her walking across the living room, which was doubling as a dance floor. He started dancing with her. She tried to walk away, but he put his hands on her waist and pulled her back to him. He held her close and continued to grind on her. She put her hands on his chest and tried to push him away, but her alcohol intake and size made the push completely ineffective.

Tyler watched his sister stumble into the living room. He didn't know if he could watch her self-destruct. He'd been front and center for his mom's self-destruction. It had been slow and painful. He decided to get out of there before he saw anything he didn't want to see. He was halfway across the room when some random guy grabbed Sarah. His jaw clenched.

Sarah's eyes were half-closed. Her buzz was wearing off. She was ready to pass out. The boy kissed her. His tongue pushed her lips open and slid into her mouth. That was it. That was enough to push Tyler over the edge.

"Get off her." Tyler's words were firm. His dark eyes flashed dangerously.

"You got a problem?"

"You tell me."

The boy sent a clear message that he did have a problem when his fist smashed into Tyler's face. Tyler was never one to back down from a fight. He tackled the boy to the ground. Mark always had Tyler's back in a fight. He joined in the scuffle.

By the time all was said and done, Tyler had a cut above his lip and faint bruising around his eye that would be a full-blown black eye by the morning. He walked Sarah to her foster home before walking across town to Brooke's house. He crossed the imaginary line that separated where he was from-the bad part of town-from the good part of town.

* * *

"Why didn't he come home?" Brooke asked. She and Julian had been waiting up to make sure Tyler got home okay. At 12:30, she'd started to get angry that he was late for curfew. It was now almost 1:00 am and she'd come to the conclusion that Tyler wasn't coming home. In a half hour, her anger had been pushed aside as worry took over. She didn't understand. Everything was going great. Why wouldn't he come home?

"If he doesn't come home, we'll find him."

"Do you think he's okay?"

Tyler put an end to the conversation when he walked through the door. He came to an abrupt stop when he noticed Brooke and Julian sitting on the couch. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. His initial shock that they were wide-awake at this hour was replaced with confusion when he realized they were waiting for him.

"Tyler…" Tyler's mom had yelled his name when she was drunk and pissed off, but even when she was in rare form, it didn't hold a candle to the way Brooke said his name now. Brooke didn't scream. She didn't need to. She raised her voice only slightly, but there was no mistaking her anger. She somehow managed to turn his name into a reprimand.

"Sorry."

Brooke advanced on Tyler. Her eyes were drawn to his battle wounds. Her lips parted in surprise and then formed a frown as she realized the implications. She pointed to a chair at the kitchen table. "Sit down."

Tyler lingered defiantly for several seconds. He knew Brooke was angry, but her anger was unlike anything he'd seen before. She wasn't raising her voice or her hand. She was eerily calm. His defiance earned him a fierce look that said more than any words could have. With one look, he knew that Brooke was not going to back down. He reluctantly sat down.

"Julian, can you get the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet?" With that out of the way, Brooke looked at Tyler. "What happened?"

"I got in a fight."

"Who won?" Julian asked as he returned with the first aid kit.

Brooke gently cleaned the angry-looking cut above Tyler's lip. His dark eyes clouded with confusion. He'd been in his fair share of fights and no one had ever tended to him afterward. His parents had inflicted damage, but they'd never fixed it. He wasn't prepared for the stinging sensation when the antiseptic touched the open cut. He hissed in pain.

The sting faded and Tyler's lips formed into an uncertain grin. "I did."

"You know, I always wanted to be able to say 'you should see the other guy,' but I never had a chance."

"Did you lose every fight?"

"I never got in any fights."

"Really?" Tyler's uncertainty was gone now. He chuckled and broke into a dimpled smile.

Brooke stared at Julian incredulously. She couldn't believe he was encouraging Tyler. She was now angry at both the boys in her life. "That's not the point." Brooke interrupted the side-conversation. Both males fell silent. Brooke looked at Tyler. "Why did you get in a fight?"

The smile vanished. "Sorry." This was the second time he'd apologized, but he had yet to explain.

"Don't." One word was all it took for Tyler to fall silent. Brooke's tone was dangerous. She didn't want an apology; she wanted an answer to the question she'd asked. "_Tell me_ what happened."

"I didn't start it." Brooke's eyebrows arched upward. She didn't need to say anything. Her expression made it clear that his explanation wasn't good enough. Not nearly. She was waiting for him to continue. "This guy was all over my sister."

Brooke raised her eyes toward the ceiling. He actually had a good reason. She didn't know how to handle this. It wasn't black and white. "Okay. Is Sarah okay?"

"Yeah."

Brooke knew from past experience that rebellious teenagers needed rules. She had to enforce them even if she understood the reasons behind Tyler's actions. If she let this slide, it would be a slippery slope. She made that mistake with Sam at first. Things went downhill until she grounded Sam for the first time. That had been the turning point in their relationship. She didn't want things to take a turn for the worse with Tyler. She would strictly enforce the rules from the get-go. "You're grounded for one week for coming home late." She decided not to add a second week for fighting.

Tyler didn't say anything, but his expression was one of pure defiance. He'd never been grounded before. He genuinely liked Brooke and Julian. They helped him when no one else would. They'd done more for him in the short time they'd known him that anyone had done for him in his life. But that didn't change the fact that being grounded for the first time by someone who was not his mom left a bad taste in his mouth. Still, he would rather be grounded than kicked out. Eventually he nodded to indicate he'd accepted the consequences.

Brooke extended her hand. "Give me your phone."

Tyler placed his cell phone in Brooke's hand. On her way to her bedroom, Brooke took a detour to the refrigerator. She threw an ice pack to Tyler. He caught it easily.

* * *

Brooke waited until they were in the privacy of their own room to question Julian. "Julian, what the hell were you thinking encouraging him to fight?"

"Sorry."

"He needs guidance. You have to be a father figure. You can't be his friend."

"Okay."

* * *

"Tyler, how'd you get that black eye?" Nathan asked.

"I got in a fight."

"That was stupid."

"I can believe Julian never got in a fight, but something tells me you can't say the same thing." Tyler's tone told Nathan exactly how he felt about being criticized for fighting by someone who had done the very same thing. He didn't appreciate it. Not one bit.

"You're right. It took me a long time to figure out that sometimes it's harder to walk away. I got in a fight the night before the NBA lottery. The next day I was in a wheelchair instead of playing basketball. I haven't been the same player since. Now I can't play anymore because my back is degenerating."

* * *

"Hey. How was your day?" Haley asked.

"Okay. What did you do today?" Nathan said. He put an arm around Haley and hugged her. It was a quick embrace, more of a greeting than a hug. It showed how comfortable they were with each other. It was a comfort level unparalleled by any other Tree Hill couple.

"I went to lunch with Brooke. She told me Tyler got in a fight."

"Just like Quentin."

"Well, Quentin learned a lot from you. Hopefully Tyler can, too."

"Do me a favor?" Nathan paused for effect. "Have a girl. They're easier." A smirk played across his face.

"You may not have to worry about fighting with girls, but you do have to worry about boys." Haley's lips formed into a smile. She loved how protective Nathan was of her and Jamie. She knew he would bring new meaning to the word overprotective if they had a daughter. She could only imagine what he would do when she started dating.

"I want a brother." Jamie added his two cents. Haley and Nathan wore smiles as they shared a look. Years of marriage and raising Jamie left them with a unique ability to communicate without words.


	7. Chapter 7

Brooke clutched her purse close to her as she walked through the women's correctional facility. She surveyed the women, all wearing the same orange jumpsuit, until she spotted the inmate she was looking for. She threw down a copy of B Davis Magazine. It landed on the picnic table in front of Victoria. "This is not what I had in mind when I said fix it."

"Oh, please, you're not the one who has to wear this hideous jumpsuit. Orange?" Victoria rolled her eyes. "And we are far from broke. In fact, we have a lot of work to do. We may have saved the company, but we are going to have to reorganize and streamline in just about every division. Let's start with the men's line."

Seeing her mother in prison was surreal. Brooke couldn't believe Victoria was acting like it was perfectly normal to have a business meeting in prison. "You're doing work from in here?"

"Of course. Brooke, many captains of industry have done their best work while incarcerated. There's no shame in it." Victoria turned to a fellow inmate behind her. "Let's get a meeting with the warden about these hideous jumpsuits. That'll be all."

"Mom!"

"So I think we can spin this whole prison thing to our advantage. I want you to think of an urban direction for your new lines. I've been told I'm going to have mad street cred when I get out of here."

"I don't even know who you are right now."

Brooke stood up and started walking toward the exit. She didn't want to be in the prison any longer than she absolutely had to be. She froze when she saw Sarah sitting at a picnic table talking to an inmate. Brooke could only assume the woman was Tyler and Sarah's mom. Curiosity got the better of her. She walked toward the table.

* * *

Sarah sat down across from her mother, Mary. Mary looked much older than her thirty-three years. Years of drugs and chain-smoking had aged her. Her skin was already wrinkled. The combination of the baggy orange jumpsuit, the absence of make-up and greasy blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail made her look masculine at first glance.

"Hi Baby."

"Hi Mom."

"You look good."

Sarah knew she didn't look good. The bags under her eyes betrayed her lack of sleep. She was suffering the consequences of drinking her own weight in alcohol the night before. "How've you been?"

"Not so good. Did you bring me anything?"

Sarah knew what her mom wanted. She took a pack of cigarettes out of her bag. Smoking a pack a day for over a decade had made it nearly impossible for Mary to survive one day without a nicotine fix.

Mary lit a cigarette. She took a drag and sighed. "Ah. Thanks."

"Hey," Brooke said tentatively as she sat down beside Sarah.

Shock registered on Sarah's face. This was the last place she would have expected to run into Brooke. Not that she ever expected to run into Brooke. Sure, the first time she'd seen Brooke they'd both been in jail. Brooke had been scared straight then. Now that Brooke wasn't the one behind bars, her fear was gone, but she still looked uncomfortable with her surroundings.

"Who the hell are you?" Mary asked.

"I'm Brooke Davis. Tyler's my foster son. Sort of."

"They should have let him rot in prison just like his dad's doing."

Brooke felt an overwhelming need to defend Tyler. She just couldn't believe she was defending him to the woman who was supposed to protect him. "It looks like they're not the only ones in your family to get arrested."

"You think you know me?" Mary stood up. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. She was poised for a fight.

Sarah stood up, too. She knew from experience how quickly this could escalate. Her mom was used to taking her anger out on Tyler and Sarah with no consequences, but there would be consequences if she attacked Brooke in front of prison guards. "Mom, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! She thinks she can talk to me like that! She thinks she's better than me!"

"Mom, that's not what she meant. She didn't mean you. She meant me, okay? I got arrested."

"Unbelievable! What kind of family I got, huh? What the hell did I do to deserve this kind of family?" When Mary was finished ranting and raving, she raised her hand and slapped Sarah across the face.

Sarah knew that was coming. She didn't try to stop it. She didn't cry out or touch her face where Mary's hand left a red mark. She didn't even blink.

Guards rushed over to the table. They pulled Mary away from Sarah and took her back to her cell.

"You didn't have to do that," Brooke said.

"Neither did you." Unlike Brooke, Sarah's tone was hard. If Brooke had minded her own business, the visit wouldn't have taken a turn for the worse.

"That's your mom?" Brooke had never been under the mistaken impression that Tyler had a good childhood, but it was different to actually see his mom and hear her saying terrible things about her son. Brooke felt even worse for Tyler now.

"Yeah."

"Why's she so hard on Tyler?"

"He stole a car and got arrested. She kicked him out. She was pissed off. She would have let him come home when she cooled off, but he didn't want to. He never forgave her for kicking him out. She's not any harder on him than me. If she could, she'd probably kick me out now. Lucky for me, she can't kick me out from prison."

Sarah's family history gave Brooke a newfound hope. She knew all too well that she could lose Tyler. She'd known all along that she would have to send Angie home after her operation, and she'd still had a hard time letting her go. She'd gotten her hopes up that she and Sam could become a family, and then Sam had left. She'd been burned in the past. She'd been making a concerted effort not to get too attached to him, but her efforts were in vain. He already meant so much to her. If he hadn't wanted to go back home before his mom went to prison, maybe he wouldn't leave when she was released from prison. Maybe this time Brooke's child would like her better even though she wasn't his "real mom." "Do you think he will forgive her?"

"No." There was no doubt in Sara's voice.

"She's your mom." Brooke couldn't be so sure. She'd certainly forgiven her mother for the unforgivable. Brooke didn't want to get her hopes up only to be disappointed.

"She screwed things up with him. He can't just pretend nothing happened. He doesn't think things will be any different now."

They reached the desk where visitors checked in and out of the prison. The guard didn't know Brooke yet, but he recognized Sarah immediately. "Hey Sarah. See you next week."

"Do you come here every week?" Brooke's surprise colored the question.

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"There's nothing left in my store."

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"The same thing as you. Visiting my mom." They reached the parking lot. Sarah started toward the bus stop, but Brooke stopped her. "I can give you a ride if you want."

Sarah smirked at the offer. "Uh, have you ever even been to the west side of Tree Hill?" The question was rhetorical. People like Brooke stayed away from Sarah's neighborhood. It had one of the highest crime rates of any of the neighborhoods in North Carolina.

Brooke ignored the question. "Come on."

Brooke was just full of surprises. Just her being at the prison took Sarah by surprise. Sarah couldn't believe Brooke's mom was in prison, too. And she definitely hadn't expected Brooke to give her a ride, especially not once she knew where Sarah was going. "What did your mom do?"

"My mother lied to my company's investors about our profits. What did your mom do?"

"She has bad taste in men. Her loser boyfriend was dealing drugs. She overdosed. She was charged with possession with intent to sell because of the quantity."

"Did you call 911?"

"No. That was Tyler."

Brooke's eyes clouded with confusion. "Didn't your mom kick him out before she was arrested?"

Sarah nodded. "He wasn't there. When she overdosed. I found her. On the bathroom floor. I didn't know what to do." Sarah's sentences were clipped. She started out with the bare minimum and then added details, eventually painting a full picture. She could picture her mom lying on the bathroom floor as if it were yesterday.

"_Hey Sarah. What's up?"_

"_Tyler." _

_Tyler couldn't make out his name amidst his sister's sobs. Sarah never cried, so Tyler knew that whatever made her cry had to be bad. "What happened?"_

"_Mom overdosed. What am I supposed to do? I don't know what to do!" Sarah was hysterical. _

"_I'll be there in a minute." Tyler wouldn't shed one tear if his mom died. She'd done this to herself and she hurt him and Sarah in the process. He knew he should feel something, but he didn't. He was only going to the house he no longer considered home for Sarah._

_Tyler walked into the house and followed the sound of Sarah's sobs to the bathroom. He hadn't set foot in the house since the day his mom kicked him out._

"_Tyler!" Tyler's presence didn't change anything that had happened, but somehow it made Sarah feel better. _

_Tyler felt his mom's wrist. He found a pulse, but it was weak. "Sarah, go get the house phone." He didn't want to call 911 from his cell phone because it would be traced back to him and he planned on getting the hell out of there as soon as he made the call. _

_This was one of the only times Sarah did what she was told without arguing. Hell, this was one of the only times Sarah had actually done what she was told. She hated being told what to do, but right now she needed someone to tell her what to do._

_Tyler dialed 911. He was unnervingly calm. Part of him felt like his mom was getting what she deserved. His voice was clear as he gave the operator the address and told her it was a drug overdose._

"_What did she take son?"_

"_I don't know." If he had to guess, he would guess crack. That was his mom's drug of choice. But she'd only been with her boyfriend, PJ, for a few weeks when she kicked Tyler out. PJ dealt drugs, so it was entirely possible that he'd broadened her horizons. Tyler looked at Sarah. "What did she take?"_

"_Crack." Sarah's voice was hoarse from crying._

_Tyler nodded and repeated the drug to the operator._

"_I want you to stay on the line and talk to me until the paramedics get there." The operator's instruction fell on deaf ears. Tyler hung up before she finished the sentence._

"_Let's go." _

"_What? Tyler, we can't."_

"_We have to. Now."_

"_We can't just leave her here! We have to make sure she's okay."_

"_It doesn't matter! Even if she's okay, we're getting a one-way ticket to foster care." Tyler knew that they would not be allowed to live with a drug addict._

"_But what if we leave and she dies?"_

_The sound of sirens was getting closer. Tyler wasn't going to stick around. "Sarah, come on. Let's go!"_

_Sarah stared at Tyler. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open slightly. She didn't understand how he could be so cold and uncaring. Their mom was still their mom no matter what she did. Sarah shook her head._

_Tyler hated to leave his sister there, but he needed to get out of there now with or without her. He only missed the paramedics and police by a few minutes._

_The paramedics started examining Mary. They recorded her vitals._

"_Is she gonna be okay?" Sarah asked._

"_We're doing everything we can." With that, Sarah was kicked out of the bathroom. The answer the paramedic gave her wasn't an answer at all. Sarah still didn't know if her mom would be okay._

_Sarah walked into the living room. Police were searching the house for drugs, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. The doors to the kitchen cabinets were ajar. The couch cushions were thrown haphazardly on the floor. Policemen were bagging drugs for evidence as they found them. They stopped what they were doing when they saw Sarah._

"_Hands up! Get 'em up!"_

_A policeman patted her down, checking for weapons. "Watch it! I'm a minor." When he was confident she was unarmed, he told her to sit down on the couch._

_Sarah watched the paramedics carry her mom out to the ambulance on a stretcher. She got up to ride with them, but the police stopped her. They grabbed her and held her back._

_When the police were finished searching the house, they called Child Protective Services. Sarah stayed to make sure her mom was okay, but she was taken away without knowing. _

It had been almost a year. The memory was still fresh in her mind. Sarah didn't think she would ever be able to forget that day. She felt Brooke's gaze on her and continued. "So I called Tyler. I knew he'd come. Not for her. For me."

Brooke remembered when Rachel overdosed in her apartment in New York. She hadn't known what to do. She'd been so scared even though Owen was with her. What kind of mother puts her own child in that position? "I know how scary it is to find someone who overdosed. One of my friends overdosed in my apartment. I didn't know what to do."

"Was she okay?"

"Well, she lived. And I tried to help her with her drug problem, but she just wasn't ready."

As they got closer to Sarah's neighborhood, every shop had bars on the windows and every surface was tagged with graffiti. They passed a condemned building that had been a housing project not long ago. Brooke could hear police sirens wailing in the distance. Sarah didn't even notice the sound. She was used to it.

"This is it." Sarah indicated a house. It looked like all of the other houses on the block-dilapidated. It didn't have much of a front yard, but what it did have was covered in overgrown weeds. The house badly needed a paint job.

* * *

"You want to play?" Julian asked.

Tyler nodded. He sat down beside Julian on the couch and picked up a Wii controller.

"Jamie always wins when we play," Julian said.

"Isn't he like seven?"

"You think you can take him?"

Tyler chuckled.

"So I was thinking…I'm working on this documentary. I want you to be in it. Only if you want to. If not, that's okay."

"What's it about?"

"It's about different people. Where they've been and where they're going. Nathan and Brooke are in it."

"My life's not very interesting.

"In the time I've known you, you've tried to steal a car and gotten in a fight. Trust me, your life is interesting."

"I don't know. I'm not a NBA player or the owner of a big company."

"You don't have to be. You just have to be yourself. What do you want to do?"

"I kind of take it one day at a time."

"You're a really good basketball player. Do you want to play in the NBA?"

"Look, for me, it's better not to want anything." Tyler couldn't even fathom the possibility of playing in the NBA. He'd consider himself lucky if he stayed out of prison and landed a job working construction or working in a factory.

"Not better. Easier. If you don't want anything, you can't be disappointed that you didn't get what you wanted. But you'll also never know the happiness you feel when get what you want. Nathan believes in you. He knows what it takes to make it to the NBA. He sees that in you, Tyler."

"What do you want?"

"I want to give Brooke everything she's ever wanted because she makes me happier than I've ever been."

* * *

"What's happening with the company? With your mom?" Julian asked.

"She's unbelievable. She's actually doing work from prison. Tyler's mom is in the same prison. I saw Sarah talking to her."

"Wow. Did it make you a little scared that Tyler will leave when she gets out?"

"At first, but I talked to Sarah. She told me their mom would have let him come home after she cooled off, but he didn't want to."

"What was she like?"

"Awful. She said they should have let Tyler rot in prison. How can a mom say that about her own child? Even Victoria never wanted me to go to prison."

"He's a good kid." Julian's affection for Tyler came through when he spoke about Tyler. His expression softened and his tone was a mixture of pride and happiness.

"Yeah, he is. Sam was acting out to get attention. I think Tyler only stole because he had to." Brooke understood Tyler on a deeper level now that she knew more about his past. He was just a child when his mom kicked him out. He'd had no one to go to for help and nowhere to go.

"It was the only way he knew to survive."

"It's not fair. Why can people like Tyler's mom and Victoria have kids and we can't?" Every time Brooke saw children with parents who weren't there for them, she felt a fresh wave of pain course through her. She felt sorry for herself, but most of all she felt sorry for the kids. No child deserved that.

"We have a kid."

"It's different."

"I know. But we can be here for him. He needs us. I think we both care about him a lot."

"I love him." It was easier to admit her love for a child than for a boy she was in love with, but it was still hard. She'd been hurt by children and men more times than she could count. Her instinct was to protect her heart. She looked at Julian. Letting him in was the best decision she ever made. He understood her better than anyone else. Hell, sometimes she felt like he knew her better than she knew herself. He always knew what to say to make her feel better. "And I love you."

"I love you, Brooke Davis."


	8. Chapter 8

Sarah crept into the master bedroom. Her foster mom was working the nightshift at the local diner. Her foster dad, Tom, had passed out early from the bottle of Jack Daniels he'd drained. Or so she thought.

She picked up the dirty jeans that had been thrown on the floor. She located what she wanted in the pocket-a pack of cigarettes and Tom's wallet. She was too cocky. She put too much faith in the belief that he was out cold. She was careless.

As Sarah's hand closed on the loot, Tom's hand grabbed her hair. He jerked her back in an angry motion. Sarah was used to being manhandled. She'd learned that crying made things worse. They wanted her to cry and her tears added fuel to the fire of rage. She'd developed a high tolerance for pain. It wasn't the pain that made her cry out now, although it hurt like hell, but the shock. The pack of cigarettes and Tom's wallet dropped from her hand and landed on the floor with a thud.

"You want a cigarette?"

Sarah didn't know what game Tom was playing. She didn't know what the right answer was. She shrugged in response.

Tom pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it. He seized Sarah's arm and held the burning end to her skin. The pain was unlike any Sarah had ever experienced. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she did not cry out. She could smell burning flesh. The cigarette left a charred mark on Sarah's skin.

A sadistic smile played across Tom's face as he admired his handiwork. He lit another cigarette. Adrenaline coursed through Sarah. It was fight or flight. She was miniscule in comparison with Tom. She wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. She ran for her life.

She could hear Tom's footsteps behind her. She turned her head around to see how much of a lead she had. Her feet continued moving forward. Tom was right on her tail. She tripped over a toy left in the middle of the floor by one of the younger foster kids. Her ankle twisted as she stumbled forward. One wrong step cost her dearly.

Tom caught up with her at the top of the stairs. He pushed her into the wall with all his might. She hit the wall at the top of the stairs. She slumped down and tumbled down the stairs. By the time she reached the bottom, she was unconscious.

Sarah heard a small voice calling her name, but she was still encased in darkness. She didn't recognize the voice. It sounded as though it was coming from far away when in reality the owner of the voice was sitting beside her.

The last thing Sarah remembered was Tom pushing her into the wall. She needed to open her eyes. She needed to put up a fight. She willed her eyes to open, fighting against unconsciousness. Finally her body listened to her.

"I thought he killed you." The voice belonged to Sarah's foster sister, Annie. Annie was eight. She had strawberry blonde hair and the fair complexion common among redheads.

Sarah's head was foggy. She didn't know if she'd fallen down the stairs or been pushed. She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious. "Where is he?"

"He's asleep."

"Are you sure?" Sarah wasn't about to repeat the same mistake she'd made earlier.

Annie's head bobbed up and down, her red curls bouncing with the motion.

Sarah was safe. She used her hands to try to push herself up, but she collapsed in agony the second she put weight on her ankle. She couldn't get up. All she could do was wait there like a sitting duck and hope Tom didn't wake up.

"Annie, can you go up to our room and bring me my bag?"

* * *

The sound of the phone ringing pulled Brooke from her slumber. She fumbled in the dark. Her hand closed on the house phone sitting on her bedside table. She put it to her ear and heard a dial tone. She still heard ringing in the distance.

Brooke reluctantly left the comfort of her bed. She followed the source of the sound to her dresser. It was Tyler's cell phone. She'd put it there after she confiscated it. She opened it to turn it off. As she did, a text message popped up.

_Sarah: Come get me. 758 Sherman St_

It was 12:18 am on a school night. Sarah should be asleep, not doing whatever she was doing in the middle of the night. Brooke wanted to go back to bed, but she knew she would never be able to live with herself if something happened to Sarah. She changed out of her pajamas. She debated whether she should wake Julian or not. She decided not to. She and Tyler would be able to handle it. She would let Julian sleep. Unlike her, he actually had to work in the morning.

"Tyler, get up."

"What's going on?"

"Your phone woke me up. It was Sarah."

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know. She wants you to go get her." Brooke handed Tyler the cell phone.

Tyler leapt to his feet. He pulled a sweatshirt over his head. He was almost at the front door when he realized Brooke was beside him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not." Tyler didn't even consider the possibility. He recognized the address as Sarah's foster home. He didn't know what he was going to save her from, but he knew it wouldn't be good. He wanted to shield Brooke from his world.

"I'm coming with you." Brooke's tone was firm this time.

As they drove, Brooke realized they were going to the same house she'd taken Sarah to the other day. Under the cover of darkness, the neighborhood was even more foreboding. Tyler saw a flash of color out of the corner of his eye. He recognized it as a gang color.

"Stay in the car." Tyler didn't know Brooke well enough yet to know she did what she wanted.

"No."

Tyler gave up. He wouldn't have been so quick to surrender if he'd been more confident that Brooke would be safer in the car. He didn't know what was in store for them in the house, but at least he would be able to protect her if she was with him.

Tyler didn't know what to expect when he stepped onto the doorstep. Through the glass he saw Sarah's immobile form sprawled in an impossibly uncomfortable position at the foot of the stairs. He feared the worst. He was too late.

Tyler picked the lock.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked.

"Breaking and entering."

"How do you know how to do that?"

Tyler's expression said more than words could have. It told Brooke that the question was stupid. It reminded her that he had a past and it was dark.

Sarah's head snapped up when she heard the door open. With the motion, relief washed over Tyler. He wasn't too late. Sarah held her index finger to her lips to signal for him to be quiet. Annie mimicked Sarah, holding her own stubby little finger to her lips. Brooke, however, did not get the message.

"Are you okay?" Brooke cried out when she saw Sarah.

"Shut up," Sarah hissed. The quiet warning packed as much anger as screaming could have. "Why did you bring her?" The anger faded, but did not disappear entirely in the question directed at Tyler.

"I don't know." Tyler wasn't going to defend himself. Brooke was a fish out of water in this neighborhood. He knew as well as Sarah did that Brooke shouldn't be here.

As if to confirm their belief, Brooke saw a cockroach and let out a scream. If Sarah didn't know better, she would think Brooke was under attack. "What was that?" Brooke asked. She'd never seen any bug that large before in her life. Unlike Sarah and Tyler, she wasn't used to living in filth.

"A cockroach," Annie said.

"Damn it! She probably woke the whole house up," Sarah said.

"What happened?" Tyler asked.

"My ankle. I think I sprained it."

"Can you walk?"

"I can't put weight on it. I need you to support me."

Tyler helped Sarah to her feet. She slung her arm around his shoulders, putting all of her weight on him. They made it to the door slowly but surely.

"Bye Sarah," Annie said.

"Bye."

"What now?" Tyler asked.

"I'm gonna crash at Andie's."

Brooke had other ideas. "You need a doctor. I have to take you to the hospital." In addition to the unusable ankle, there was a knot forming on Sarah's head. The position they'd found her in led Brooke to believe she'd been thrown down the stairs.

"There's no way in hell I'm going to the hospital." The hospital would need permission to treat her because she was under 18. They would get that permission from Tom, who was at least partially responsible for the injuries, or Sarah's case worker, Danielle, who would place her in another foster home that would probably be just as bad if not worse.

"That's not a good idea." Tyler voiced his agreement with his sister.

"They need to make sure she's okay."

Tyler was torn. Which side did he choose? Sarah was his sister, but his loyalty was with the woman who had done so much for him. "You should go." He saw the betrayal in Sarah's eyes.

"No, I shouldn't. And I shouldn't have called you." Up until now, Tyler had always been there for her when she needed him. She couldn't believe he was siding with someone he'd known for less than a month over her. She removed her arm from around Tyler's shoulders and took a tentative step away from him. Without his support, her ankle gave out. Her face contorted in pain and she crumbled to the ground.

"I'm just trying to help you." Tyler pulled Sarah up again. He practically dragged her to the car. She fought him every step of the way, but he was almost twice her size.

"You call this helping me?" He was hurting her more than he was helping her.

"Yeah, I do."

* * *

Sarah reluctantly accepted Tyler's help getting out of the car and walking into the hospital. He deposited her in a chair in the waiting room and then went to the front desk with Brooke. Resigned to her fate, Sarah called Danielle.

"Do you think her foster parents did that to her?" Brooke asked.

"I don't think she fell."

"What would you say if she stayed with us?"

"I don't know."

That wasn't the reaction Brooke had expected. "She's your sister."

"And I love her, but the girl's trouble. I appreciate you trying to help, but this shouldn't have to be your problem."

"If it's your problem, it is absolutely my problem." Brooke didn't want Tyler to handle this alone. How bad could Sarah be? Brooke had tamed a shoplifter and a car jacker? With that, they sat down in the chairs beside Sarah.

Danielle walked into the emergency room. She spotted Sarah and sat down beside her. "What happened?"

"I fell."

"I know you didn't fall. I called to have the other kids removed from that home after you called me. Annie told her case worker what really happened. You could have told me the truth."

Sarah nodded. There wasn't anything more to say. She wasn't going to go into detail. She couldn't be angry with Annie for telling the truth. Annie was still so young. She didn't know yet that the system they were in was far from perfect. She still trusted adults. She thought the truth would set them free from bad homes. Her innocence wouldn't last long. A few more foster homes would be the end of her innocence.

Brooke, Tyler, Sarah and Danielle followed a nurse back to an exam room. Sarah leaned on Tyler for support. They gave Sarah privacy to change into a hospital gown. Brooke took the opportunity to talk to Danielle and arrange for Sarah to stay with her.

A doctor was already examining Sarah when they returned to the room. He was wrapping her ankle.

"Stay off of it for a few days. It could hurt for a few days or a few weeks."

"Can I get something for the pain?"

"I'm going to give you Vicodin. It will also help with the headache from the concussion."

"She has a concussion? Is she gonna be okay?" Brooke asked.

Sarah still didn't know why Tyler brought Brooke in the first place. She didn't know why Brooke was still here over an hour after they'd first set foot in the hospital. Didn't Brooke have anything better to do? And Sarah really didn't know why the hell Brooke was asking questions about her. Sarah decided to put a stop to it. She looked directly at Brooke. "Thanks for bringing me here." The thank you had a sarcastic undertone. She wasn't grateful because she hadn't wanted to come to the hospital. She really wanted to say, 'Thanks for nothing,' but she censored herself in front of Danielle. "You _really_ didn't have to stay. You can go now."

The sarcasm and anger didn't escape Brooke. Sarah had been opposed to going to the hospital. The pent-up anger stemmed from being taken to the hospital when it was the last thing she wanted. Brooke ignored it for the time being. Her eyes bored into Sarah's. "I'm not leaving you here."

"Brooke wants to foster you," Danielle said. She'd also picked up on Sarah's anger, but she thought nothing of it. She was used to teenagers who were mad at the world.

If Brooke and Danielle thought Sarah's anger would dissolve with their revelation, they were wrong. Sarah was quietly seething. She knew there was no point in telling Danielle she didn't want to go.

Tyler moved in with Brooke and all of a sudden he had a curfew. Sarah didn't like being slapped around, but she did like being able to come and go as she pleased. None of her foster parents had ever cared what time she got home, or if she even came home at all, as long as they got a check from the government every month.

Danielle had more cases than she had time and Brooke had taken the difficult task of placing an unwanted teenager off Danielle's plate. Danielle would not care one way or the other what Sarah wanted. Sarah had to go with Brooke whether she wanted to or not.

With that resolved, Brooke once again turned her attention to the doctor. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"She hit her head when she fell. She lost consciousness, she has a headache and her scalp is swollen. She probably has a concussion, but the only way to find out is a CT or MRI. She doesn't need those. She just needs to rest."

By the time they got back to the house, it was 3:08 am and they were all exhausted. Brooke led the way. "Your room is upstairs, but you can sleep on the couch until your ankle is better."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I have a few more chapters planned out and ideas to continue this story beyond that, but I'm not sure how many people are enjoying this story. Please let me know if you want me to continue this story and if there is anything you want to see. If people aren't enjoying this story, I have a few other story ideas. Thank you.


	9. Chapter 9

Somehow Julian slept through the night's events. As the only one in the house who had gotten a decent night's sleep, he was the first to rise.

He didn't notice the sleeping teenager on the couch. Her petite form was covered entirely by a blanket. He poured a glass of orange juice for himself and retrieved the newspaper from the front porch. He was looking at the newspaper, not at where he was going, when he sat down on the couch. Julian jumped up when he realized he'd sat on a body instead of the couch. Sarah shot bolt upright. It would be a toss up as to who looked more surprised.

Julian recognized Sarah immediately. "You're grand theft auto girl, right?"

Sarah nodded.

"I assume you're not robbing me?"

Sarah smirked. "Brooke didn't tell you she brought home a stray?"

"You're staying with us now." Julian wasn't all that surprised. Sarah was Tyler's sister.

Sarah took a cigarette out. Julian couldn't believe she was going to smoke in front of him. He stopped her before she could light it. "Uh, there's no smoking in this house."

It never even occurred to her that he would have a problem with her smoking. Almost everyone she knew smoked. It wasn't taboo. Cashiers didn't think twice about selling cigarettes to teenagers in her neighborhood. Parents didn't lecture their children on the dangers of smoking. They couldn't; they smoked as much if not more. It wasn't the discovery that his foster daughter smoked that set Tom off the night before. He only erupted because she was stealing _his_ cigarettes. Sarah pursed her lips. She stood to go outside and smoke. She received a painful reminder that her ankle was sprained the second she put pressure on it. Her face contorted in pain and she sank back down onto the couch.

Julian's eyes clouded in concern. "Hey, you okay?"

"I sprained my ankle."

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"It doesn't feel good."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I think Brooke left my painkillers on the kitchen counter."

Julian located the bottle of Vicodin on the kitchen counter. He read the warning label. "It says to take with food. You hungry?"

"Starving."

Julian poured a bowl of cereal. "Coffee or juice?"

"Coffee."

"How do you take it?" A grin played across Julian's face as he remembered how Sam took her coffee-with more sugar than coffee.

"Black."

Julian balanced the bowl of cereal and a mug of coffee. He set them on the coffee table in front of Sarah.

"Thanks." It was one of few times Sarah had expressed genuine gratitude. It was one of the only times she'd had a reason to; she wasn't used to people doing things for her.

"Of course."

* * *

Julian poured another cup of coffee and took it to Brooke.

Brooke sat up in bed and accepted the steaming mug. She was so tired she wasn't thinking straight. It didn't even occur to her that Julian had already seen Sarah if he'd been in the kitchen until Julian asked, "What did I miss last night?"

"A lot. Tyler's cell phone woke me up in the middle of the night. I was going to turn it off, but I saw a text message from Sarah to go get her. I didn't want to wake you and I thought I'd be able to handle it alone."

"I'm not mad."

"Sarah's foster dad threw her down a flight of stairs. I took her to the hospital. She has a sprained ankle and a concussion. I didn't know what to do with her. I couldn't just leave her there. She's Tyler's sister." Even though Julian wasn't mad, Brooke knew she should have talked to him before taking in another teenager. She had no idea what she was getting herself into last night when she decided to go alone. If she could go back, she would have woken Julian up.

"You did the right thing."

"It's funny. We were sad that we couldn't have kids. Now we have two teenagers."

"I know. Has there ever been a teenager that tried to steal from you who you didn't take in?" Julian smirked.

"I blame my bleeding heart."

"I kind of like your bleeding heart. I love you, Brooke Davis."

* * *

Tyler still didn't know about Sarah staying at Brooke's house. He didn't want her to screw this up for him and he didn't know if she could help it. He saw Sarah sitting on the couch eating breakfast. "Hey." He offered her a half-smile, but it disappeared when he laid eyes on the pack of cigarettes that was out on the coffee table.

Sarah followed his gaze and realized the reason his expression had hardened. "Ty, I didn't-"

"You sure? 'Cause it looks like you did. Your old ways aren't going to work here. You need to change."

"I didn't know there's no smoking in this house. I'm not gonna smoke in the house, okay?" Sarah moved the cigarettes into her bag, hoping that if they were out of sight they would be out of mind.

Brooke and Julian didn't pick up on the anger emanating from both teenagers when they entered the living room.

Tyler was angry because Sarah had been there for less than 24 hours and she was already up to no good. He didn't want Sarah to screw this up for him, but it was more than that. Brooke and Julian were good people. Tyler hadn't even known people like them existed. He didn't want Sarah to hurt them, but he knew his sister always left a path of destruction in her wake.

Sarah hadn't asked to come here; she wanted to crash at Andie's place. No one asked her what she wanted and now they expected her to change her ways so she could stay somewhere she hadn't even wanted to be in the first place.

The caffeine in Brooke's system didn't prevent a yawn from escaping. She knew if she was tired, Tyler must be exhausted. They'd only gotten a grand total of 4 hours of sleep. She was tempted to let him cut out of school, but she knew he couldn't afford to miss class. He was already having a hard time in school.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want some coffee?"

Tyler nodded. He accepted a travel thermos from Brooke. "Thanks."

"You ready?" Julian asked.

Tyler hesitated, his eyes glued to Sarah. He didn't want to take his eyes off her for one second while she was in Brooke's home. "You coming to school?"

"She needs to rest for a few days before she can go back to school," Brooke said. She'd committed the doctor's instructions to memory.

Still Tyler lingered. Brooke saw the way he was looking at Sarah. She remembered their conversation in the hospital.

"_What would you say if she stayed with us?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_She's your sister."_

"_And I love her, but the girl's trouble. I appreciate you trying to help, but this shouldn't have to be your problem." _

Brooke suddenly understood why Tyler was delaying his departure. "We're going to be okay." The confidence in her voice should have reassured him, but it only made him more certain that Brooke didn't know what she was getting herself into.

Tyler felt a sense of dread as he walked out the door. He didn't know what would happen in his absence. Between school, basketball practice and tutoring, he would be gone for 10 hours more or less. A lot could happen in 10 hours. He knew Sarah couldn't even stay out of trouble for 10 minutes.

* * *

Sarah had been awake for less than an hour, but the painkiller worked its way through her system, making her so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. She gave in to sleep.

Brooke called the school to tell them Sarah would be home sick for the day. The simple phone call got a lot more complicated when the principal informed Brooke that Sarah was suspended for truancy.

Haley knocked and opened the door without waiting for a response. "Hey." She noticed Sarah sleeping on the couch. "What's she doing here?"

"Her foster home wasn't so good."

"Why isn't she in school?"

"She has a sprained ankle, but that doesn't matter because apparently she's suspended for truancy."

"She's a piece of work. I can help her get caught up if you want."

Sometime in the midst of their conversation Sarah had woken up, the effects of the medication wearing off. "I already passed the 10th grade last year when Tyler was in it. I don't need help."

"You've missed 9 days and that's just this month!" The accusation was ripe with anger. Brooke had cut class, but she'd never missed 9 days in one month. Sarah had gone overboard.

"Yeah, and I'm still passing."

"Sarah, the book report you wrote for Tyler was really good. You're a bright kid. You can do better than passing. If you spent less time stealing cars and more time in school, you'd be able to go to any college you want," Haley said.

"Where I come from, there are more high school dropouts than college graduates."

"What do you want to do? What's your dream?"

"I'm _bright_ enough to know dreams don't come true." Sarah's tone was derisive. She'd grown up in a wasteland where people worked jobs they hated to make rent. When they couldn't make ends meet, they stole. She'd seen desperation, but hope was a foreign concept to her.

"That's not true."

"Really? Was it your husband's dream to be a small town high school basketball coach? Was it Brooke's dream to have an empty store?" Sarah would not take Haley's fiction for fact. She didn't know her brutal honesty would hit Haley and Brooke where it hurt. They were collateral damage.

"Nathan's dream was to make it to the NBA and he did that." On the surface, Haley was defending her husband. Her motivations were not entirely pure. Guilt that Nathan gave up on his dream for her made her a little too defensive. "And Brooke has a multi-million dollar company. My dream was to sing and I recorded an album and went on tour. But this isn't about us. What do you want to do?"

"Right now I want to go back to sleep."

Brooke said something she would never say when Sarah was awake. "Maybe she's right. Maybe dreams don't come true. I'm losing my company. Nathan worked so hard to make it to the NBA and now his back is degenerating. Julian and Lucas never got to finish _An Unkindness of_ _Ravens_."

"Don't say that. You got to live your dream. You started Clothes Over Bros and made it into a multi-million dollar company. What do you do when your dream comes true?"

"That's just it. I don't know what to do."

"Why don't you start a new line? You've done it before."

"The investors didn't just invest in my company. They invested in me…my name…Brooke Davis. I can't start a new line. No one's going to believe in me now."

"Start a new line using Haley's name if she's such a big rock star," Sarah said. Her eyes were closed, but she hadn't been able to fall back asleep. The suggestion startled Brooke and Haley. Not only did they think she was sleeping, but they also were surprised by the idea. It came out of nowhere. Even with her eyes squeezed shut, she could feel their eyes on her. "All the cool rock stars are doing it. Take a page out of Gwen Stefani's book."

"That's not a bad idea," Brooke said tentatively.

Haley's eyes darted from Sarah to Brooke. She could see the wheels spinning in Brooke's head. "I don't know. I haven't released an album in years. I'm pregnant."

"Do you think Mia would do it?"

"There's only one way to find out." Haley chuckled as Brooke dialed the familiar number. Brooke had been a shell of her former self since the arrest. For the first time since then, Brooke's usual excitement was bubbling to the surface.

* * *

Tyler was prepared for the worst when he walked through the door. Brooke was sitting on the couch sketching. She didn't look any worse for the wear, but looks can be deceiving. He didn't see Sarah anywhere and that worried him. "How's it going?"

"Good. Better than good. I'm starting a new line."

A slow smile crept over Tyler's face. "That's good. Everything is okay then? With Sarah?"

"Everything's going great."

Tyler found that hard to believe. He looked around. "Uh, where is Sarah?"

"Sarah's fine. She's taking a bath."

"She hasn't taken a bath since she was 6. She takes showers." Tyler's distrust for his sister had him on alert for anything that was off.

"She can't stand." Brooke's eyes bored into Tyler's dark eyes. They were clouded with concern. "People can change."

"You don't know Sarah."

* * *

Sarah stepped out of the bath tub, putting all of her weight on her good ankle. She lost her balance and bumped into the wall. It didn't hurt. The force she hit the wall with was nothing compared with how hard Tom had pushed her into the wall the night before.

It did, however, make a loud enough sound that Brooke discarded her sketchbook in her haste to make sure Sarah was okay. She opened the door without knocking, grateful for the broken lock. "Are you okay?" The words were on the tip of her tongue. They left her mouth before she saw that Sarah was not okay at all.

The towel wrapped around Sarah did little to cover her bruised and battered body. The many colored bruises on Sarah's back formed a rainbow. They were souvenirs from her trip down the stairs the night before. Sarah pulled the towel tighter around her and spun around to face Brooke. From the new angle, Brooke could see bruises in the shape of handprints on Sarah's shoulders. A blush crept over Sarah's cheeks. "Don't you knock?"

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Brooke struggled to speak in a complete sentence. She couldn't think straight. Her eyes never left the bruises. She felt tears brimming in her eyes.

"I'm fine." Sarah's hard expression dared Brooke to argue.

Brooke looked directly into Sarah's hazel eyes. "I don't think you are."

Sarah broke eye contact. She took an unsteady step toward the door, wanting to be anywhere but in a confined space with the woman who had seen too much. Brooke instinctively reached out to steady Sarah, but Sarah recoiled. It was hard not to take it personally even though Brooke knew Sarah had a deep-seated distrust of adults because all of the adults in her life had done more harm than good.


	10. Chapter 10

Brooke, Haley and Mia were eating lunch outside at a restaurant by the river. Sarah's idea to start a new line using Haley's name renewed Brooke's spirit. She hadn't been able to put her sketchpad down the night before. She had so many ideas in her head that she was trying to get down on paper. Her mother's arrest and the subsequent scandal created a roadblock to success that Brooke couldn't see a way around. Now she saw a way to bring her ideas to life.

"This is so cool!" Mia said.

"You'll do it?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, I'll do it! I'm going to have a clothing line named after me. Alex doesn't have a clothing line."

"I'll design the line and meet with department stores. The line will be branded Mia Catalano. You'll help with PR."

"You can promote it when you do press for the new tour," Haley said.

"I can design your costume for the concert and your dress for the after-party and then we can sell them," Brooke said.

"And everyone's going to want to dress like me," Mia said. Her tone was light, but the pride was genuine.

"Yeah, well, you need to finish your album before you can go on tour," Haley said. She was proud of her role in Mia's transition from a shy keyboard player whose talent was lost in a band to a confident recording artist. She loved working with Mia. It allowed her to dabble in 2 things she loved-teaching and music. She could help Mia take her work to the next level.

"The field trip's over?" Mia said.

"Afraid so. I want to get back to the studio and do some more work. Brooke, can you pick Jamie up from school and watch him?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Hey." Andie stepped into Brooke's house uncertainly. Her long raven hair swished against her back. She broke into a smile when she saw her best friend lying on the couch. Her face lit up and her golden complexion glowed with happiness. She looked around the house. It didn't look like any of the foster homes Sarah had been in. It was at least double the size of Sarah's last foster home. The décor gave the distinct impression that the owners were wealthy. "This is where you've been staying? You got hooked up."

Sarah shrugged. She hadn't decided yet if it was worth it. Living in this house meant living under Brooke and Julian's rules. She'd only been there for a day and there was already one rule-no smoking in the house. That was one more rule than Sarah had ever had. She had a feeling there would be more rules to come when she got better and could actually leave the house. So far she'd been stuck on the couch.

"How's your ankle?"

"It's alright."

"Did you get hooked up with painkillers?"

"Vicodin. I share with friends."

"There's a party at Joe's tonight. Bring the party favors."

"A party? I can't even walk."

"Let's see."

Sarah cautiously stood, putting most of her weight on her good ankle. She limped a few steps, which was more than she'd been able to do the day before. The sprain still hurt, but the pain was no longer completely prohibitive. She could finally move from the confines of the couch.

The first thing Sarah did with her newfound freedom was to smoke a cigarette on the deck. She'd been craving nicotine for a 1 day and 2 nights. It was the longest she'd gone without a cigarette in nearly a year. She took a drag and sighed. "Ah."

Andie surveyed the view from the deck. The water was a deep shade of blue. It glistened beneath the sun. "This is tight."

"I haven't been out here before. I haven't left the couch."

"When are you going back to school?"

"Tomorrow I guess."

* * *

Brooke couldn't wait to tell Sarah that her idea for a new line was going to become a reality. Maybe if Sarah saw the line come to fruition, she would believe that dreams could come true.

"Hey." Brooke's excitement leaked into her voice.

Jamie looked around the empty house and his face scrunched up in confusion. "Who are you talking to, Aunt Brooke?"

Brooke stared at the vacant couch. She started working her way through the house looking for Sarah. She heard voices on the deck and opened the door.

Sarah heard Brooke's voice. She put the cigarette out on the ground. She didn't know if the no smoking rule extended to the deck.

"Hey. What are you doing out here?" Brooke said.

"Nothing." Sarah spoke quickly. Her tone and demeanor were defensive. "Uh, Brooke, this is Andie."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, I'm not a ma'am." Brooke hated it when people called her ma'am. "And it's nice to meet you, too."

"Hi. I'm James Lucas Scott. You can call me Jamie."

Sarah looked past Brooke and saw Jamie. Her lips formed into a faint smile. "What's up?"

"My dad's at practice and my mama's at the studio, so I'm playing with Aunt Brooke."

Sarah hadn't moved from her spot on the couch and now all of a sudden she was out on the deck. Brooke found it hard to believe she was really doing nothing. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she searched the deck for evidence that Sarah was up to something. Her eyes landed on the cigarette butt on the ground. "Jamie, why don't you go fire up the Wii?" She waited until Jamie was out of earshot. She picked up the cigarette butt. "What's this?"

"Julian said there's no smoking in the house. We weren't smoking in the house."

Brooke's lips parted in surprise. Julian knew Sarah smoked. He should have told her. The shock faded and anger consumed her. "No smoking _ever_."

"Why do you care what I do when I'm not in your house? It doesn't affect you."

The bitterness in Sarah's voice took Brooke by surprise. She'd just caught her 15 year old foster daughter smoking on her deck. She expected an apology, not an angry retort. Her eyes bored into Sarah's. "I care about you. You're better than this. You're not going to smoke again. Give me your cigarettes." She extended her hand.

Sarah reluctantly placed the pack of cigarettes in Brooke's hand. She had no intention to quit smoking. She wouldn't smoke anywhere in the vicinity of Brooke's house, but she sure as hell wasn't going to quit smoking just because Brooke told her to. If she wanted to quit, she would have bought nicotine gum. She could get her hands on another pack of cigarettes. She needed to get out of the house and away from Brooke. She was starting to feel suffocated by the house rules. "We're going out."

"You have a sprained ankle and a concussion. I don't think you're ready to go out."

"You don't know how I feel."

"I don't know how you feel, but the doctor said you needed to rest for a few days. It's only been one day."

Sarah's anger was momentarily replaced with shock. None of her foster parents had ever told her she couldn't go out. The only reason they wanted her there at all was because her presence entitled them to a government check. They'd just as soon have the check and no foster daughter. She stared at Brooke. She realized Brooke was serious and her expression hardened. She looked at Andie. "You should go."

* * *

Sarah refused Brooke's help, choosing instead to limp into the living room on her own. She didn't want to accept anything from Brooke. She didn't want to feel indebted to Brooke and Julian.

"You walk like my dad did after his accident." Jamie observed. He brandished a Wii controller. "Do you want to play?"

"Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do." Sarah's annoyed tone was accented with an angry scowl directed at Brooke.

Oblivious to the tension between Brooke and Sarah, Jamie set the game up. "You're Tyler's sister, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you play basketball?"

"No. The basketball gene skipped me."

"Do you play baseball?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I'm 7. I don't know the answers."

* * *

Tyler dribbled the ball up to the hoop and dunked it. The ball flew through the net and hit the floor hard. It bounced a few feet away to where the cheerleaders were stretching out.

Tyler jogged over to retrieve it. He knew the cheerleader who had the ball even though she'd never talked to him before. Everyone knew her.

Melissa Roberts was pretty and popular. She had wavy dirty blonde hair and golden tan skin. It looked like she'd just returned from a tropical vacation. She was tall and skinny.

"That's my ball."

"What do I get if I give it to you?" Melissa's light, teasing tone was complemented by a playful smile.

"What do you want?"

"A date."

Tyler had been in school with Melissa for several years and she didn't even know he existed. He didn't know what surprised him more-that she wanted to go out with him all of a sudden or how forward she was.

"Tyler!" Impatience pervaded Nathan's voice.

Melissa handed the ball to Tyler. Tyler hustled back to the center of the court.

"We're playing LaSalle on Friday. They're undefeated. We've won one. I'm not gonna lie to you. They're not going to make it easy for us, but we can win this," Nathan said.

"Don't you mean Tyler can win this?" Aaron Wilson smirked. He had light blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. His cheeks were flushed from exerting himself during practice. The pink tint was a stark contrast with his fair skin. His athletic build was deceptive; his skills on the court were lacking. Most of the players laughed at the wisecrack. Tyler and Nathan both picked up on underlying jealousy.

"We win and lose as a team." Nathan's tone hardened. He knew he needed to prevent Aaron's perceived rivalry with Tyler from escalating. Aaron and Tyler were both shooting guards, which meant the only position Aaron would get to play was benchwarmer now that Tyler was on the team. Nathan knew how Aaron felt. Nathan had the same insecurities when Lucas joined the Ravens. The only difference was that Lucas and Nathan were more or less equals on the court. There was no contest between Aaron and Tyler.

* * *

Nathan was sitting on the edge of the couch staring intently at the television screen. Even if Haley hadn't known what he was doing, his posture would have revealed that he wasn't relaxing; he was working. He was deep in concentration. Haley broke into a smile as she watched him. She loved that he never did anything halfway; he pushed himself to be the best at everything he undertook and he usually succeeded.

"You've been watching those tapes for hours. I'm surprised you don't have them memorized by now."

The game tapes were quickly forgotten. Nathan tuned out the sound coming from the television and turned to Haley. Basketball was important to him, but Haley came first. Basketball wasn't even a close second. "We're playing LaSalle on Friday. They're undefeated." The explanation had an apologetic undertone.

"What are you worried about? You have Tyler."

"Yeah, but last week was Tyler's first game as a Raven. The other team didn't know what hit them. They didn't know to double team him. They didn't know his strengths and weaknesses. This is different. LaSalle knows. And they're good."

"When we were in high school, all those other teams knew you were the best player on the Ravens. They knew to double team you and you still won all those games. Tyler's really good and he's learning from the best."

None of Nathan's trophies made him as proud as a compliment from Haley. Winning trophies was easy; winning Haley over had been arduous. She'd challenged him in a way basketball never had. She'd wanted more from him. Every time he made her proud, he knew he'd earned it. He wasn't just a good basketball player; he was a good man and it was because of Haley. "I know, but you saw what happened last week. He choked. What if the pressure of being double teamed is too much for him?"

"Yeah, he choked. And then you talked to him and he came back and helped you win that game. You're a good coach."

"Yeah, well, I learned from the best."

"The student has become the master." Nathan's eyes clouded with confusion. His enormous respect for Whitey made it impossible for him to see himself as an equal. The corners of Haley's mouth twitched up. The outside world knew Nathan as cocky, but she saw a side of him no one else saw. She saw his vulnerability. "Do you remember Lucas' first game? He choked and Whitey didn't talk to him. One time-out. A few kind words. You know, maybe that's all it would have taken. But you knew exactly what to say to Tyler. Nathan, you made sure his first game was a good experience."

* * *

"Julian, why didn't you tell me that our foster daughter smokes?" Brooke's tone was ripe with anger.

Julian's eyes widened. If Brooke caught her smoking, Sarah must have broken the rule already. He knew the teenager hadn't left the house. He felt a surge of disappointment. "I told her there's no smoking in this house. Did she break that rule?"

"No, she didn't break that rule. She smoked outside on _my_ deck." Brooke's sarcasm mixed with anger was a deadly combination. Even when it was directed at him, Julian liked her feistiness.

"I didn't know she would do that. I trusted her to be good." Arguing would have made Brooke even angrier. Julian's sincerity and kindheartedness broke through the anger. Brooke loved how trusting he was. He always saw the good in people.

"You can't trust her. She's a rebellious teenager."

"It's so weird. I watched movies for fun in high school. She's stealing cars and smoking."

"I was having sex and drinking when I was in high school."

Julian smirked. "You're still having sex and drinking. In fact, I think we should have sex right now."

Julian lowered his mouth to Brooke's. Her lips parted in invitation. Her body pressed into his. They both wanted more, but Brooke started to pull away.

"We have a young girl and a young boy sleeping in the house." The protest was conflicted. Julian knew she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.

"The key word is sleeping." His trademark grin complemented his light tone. Brooke had once told Julian that grin wouldn't get him anywhere with her. She'd been too scared to admit that she wasn't immune to his grin; his grin was her kryptonite.

Brooke tried not to look at the grin, as though it wouldn't affect her if she looked the other direction, but Julian's soft, eager lips were irresistible. She was fighting a losing battle for control. She closed the distance between them. Their lips met again. The kiss was deeper this time.

Kissing her wasn't enough. Julian tore his mouth from Brooke's. He pressed his lips to her throat. He stroked her face gently. His fingers slid down her throat and continued traveling down her body. He knew every curve of her body by heart.

Brooke reached for the buttons on his shirt. Her fingers trailed down his perfectly sculpted body. He dragged her dress over her head. Piece by piece they added items of clothing that were in their way to a growing pile on the floor. The house was cool, but their bodies were warm.

Brooke wrapped her legs around Julian. She nibbled at his mouth tortuously. Anticipation built inside them, overwhelming them. Julian eased Brooke down on the bed. Brooke moved restlessly beneath Julian. Their bodies melded together perfectly. They moved in perfect synchronization.

Julian anticipated Brooke's every need. He knew what she wanted before she wanted it, a feat none of Brooke's other boyfriends had been able to accomplish. True love and desire produced an intense heat. Brooke sighed in satisfaction.


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you worried about the game?" Julian asked.

Tyler looked up slowly and shook his head. The motion was slight. It fooled no one. He was always quiet and broody, but this evening was different. His silence was foreboding. He'd barely touched his dinner.

Julian's lips curved up. Tyler usually seemed older than 16. He'd been forced to grow up fast. Now he looked unusually childlike. "It's okay to be worried." A slight blush crept across Tyler's cheeks. Julian was now even more certain that they'd hit a nerve. "Is LaSalle good?"

"Yeah, they're okay."

"You got off to a rough start last week. What happened?"

"I don't know. There were a lot of people there."

"This time is different. We're going to be there for you. We're proud of you no matter what," Brooke said.

Julian nodded. "Win or lose. Sometimes the beauty is in the attempt."

Tyler looked at the food he'd been pushing around on his plate. He couldn't look at Brooke and Julian. Praise was foreign to him. He didn't know how to react. "I should go." He rinsed his plate off in the sink, scrubbing it vigorously.

"That's what the dishwasher is for," Julian teased.

"We never had a dishwasher."

Julian knew Tyler's family was poor, but unlike Brooke he hadn't seen how poor their old neighborhood was. He didn't know what to say. "We'll see you at the game."

* * *

"Are you ready?"

"For what?" Sarah asked.

Brooke stared at Sarah. She couldn't believe Sarah had forgotten. "Tyler's game."

"I've never been to a school game before." The amusement in Sarah's voice accented by a smirk told Brooke that Sarah had avoided school games at all costs and planned to keep it that way.

"It means a lot to your brother that we're all going to be there."

"Come on, Sarah. There will be a parking lot full of cars you can steal," Julian teased. Sarah tried not to smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched up. Julian broke into a triumphant smirk. "Is that a smile? You should do that more often. You have a beautiful smile."

"If I'm well enough to go to Tyler's game, I'm well enough to go out tonight." It was a bargaining chip. Sarah knew she had the upper hand. Brooke couldn't drag her to the game and still maintain that she wasn't well enough to go out.

"Where are you going?" Brooke asked. Reluctance seeped into her voice.

"My friend Joe's house."

Brooke wanted to say no, but she knew that wasn't fair. She had a feeling letting Sarah go out would come back to bite her in the ass. She tried to think of everything that could possibly go wrong. She knew she needed to lay down ground rules before Sarah left. "Curfew is 12:00 sharp. No smoking. And no drinking."

"Don't break any laws." Although his tone was light, Julian's all-encompassing statement was intended to help Brooke and make it impossible for Sarah to find a loophole.

* * *

Tyler left for the game early. He'd used the game as an excuse to leave. Tyler loved being taken care of for once in his life, but he was still learning how to let Brooke and Julian take care of him. He didn't know how to react to the support and pride they'd offered him at dinner, so he left. He was the first one in the locker room.

"Hey."

Tyler thought he was alone. The female voice startled him. His eyes flickered up. "This is the guys' locker room."

"I know. You're just the guy I was looking for," Melissa said. Her tone was playful. Her lips formed a confident smile.

"Really?"

"When are we going out?"

"What?"

"I gave you your ball back in practice, so you have to go out with me."

Tyler still didn't understand why Melissa wanted to go out with him all of a sudden. "Okay, I guess."

"There's a party at my friend Molly's beach house after the game. You should come."

Tyler's lips twisted into a wince. "I'm kind of grounded."

"I like bad boys." Melissa's ocean blue eyes scanned Tyler's body appreciatively. She bit her lip. "What did you do?"

"I got in a fight…got home late."

Melissa's lips curved into an approving smile. "You can sneak out, right?"

"Nah, I don't think so."

"Too bad. I can wait until you're not grounded." Melissa pressed her lips to Tyler's. His lips parted in surprise. She explored his mouth. Her fingers traveled through his hair. She pulled back breathlessly. Tyler stared at her in stunned silence. She saw flickers of pleasure and desire in his dark eyes. She broke into a smirk. "If you can." With that, she left. She bumped into Aaron on her way out of the locker room.

Aaron's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What was Melissa doing in here?" It was an accusation, not a question.

"Nothing." Tyler didn't owe Aaron an explanation.

"It didn't look like nothing."

Nathan walked into the locker room. He nodded. "Hey guys."

Tyler wasn't finished with Aaron. Aaron obviously had a problem with him. Tyler slowly looked up at Nathan. He forced his mouth into a half-smile. "Hey."

The team gradually filed into the locker room. The air was thick with tension, but now wasn't the time for Tyler and Aaron to settle it.

* * *

The team ran out onto the court. Tyler dared a glance at the stands. Last week the stands had been full of nameless faces. This week Tyler was searching for friendly faces. His eyes landed on Julian, Brooke, and Sarah and he broke into a smile.

LaSalle started out with the ball. They scored quickly. Aaron dribbled the ball toward the hoop. LaSalle players swarmed him, blocking him from making a shot. His eyes scanned the court. Tyler was wide open. They locked eyes for a split second and then Aaron turned toward another player, Mike. Mike wasn't open, but Aaron threw the ball to him instead of Tyler. The ball landed in a LaSalle player's hands. Within minutes, the score was 4-0.

"What was that? I was open." Tyler said. He got in Aaron's face.

"I didn't see you."

"You saw me."

The confrontation ended abruptly when the ball landed in Tyler's hands. Another player had thrown it to him. Tyler started driving it toward the basket. To his surprise, Aaron stole the ball from him mid-dribble. Tyler hadn't been guarding the ball from his own teammate. He watched as Aaron made a lay-up. Tyler would have been able to make a 3-pointer if he'd had half a chance. They wouldn't win with lay-ups.

Aaron went out of his way to keep the ball away from Tyler for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for the Ravens, they wouldn't win without Tyler. With 8 minutes left in the game, the Ravens were trailing by 9 points. Nathan called a time-out.

Tyler's lips formed into a menacing scowl directed at Aaron. "What's your problem?"

"You stole my spot on the team and now you're stealing my girlfriend like a little bitch."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Melissa."

"She doesn't have your name on her." Tyler got in Aaron's face again. Their faces were so close that Aaron could feel Tyler's breath as Tyler spoke.

Aaron shoved Tyler backwards. Within seconds, Tyler closed the distance between them. "You don't want to fight me," Tyler hissed. His tone was venomous.

Aaron broke into a cocky smirk. "Why not? You scared?"

"No, because I'll kill you."

Aaron sucker punched Tyler. The blow caught Tyler by surprise. Tyler doubled over. His hands instinctively went to his stomach. He recovered quickly. He socked Aaron in the jaw. Tyler was aiming another blow at Aaron when all of a sudden Nathan appeared in between them. Tyler managed to stop his fist about a centimeter before it collided with Nathan's face.

"Sorry," Tyler said. He looked at the court. He wouldn't look at Nathan. Not after that.

Nathan clenched his jaw. He was pissed off that Aaron's jealousy had most likely cost them the game. He was disappointed that the talk he'd had with Tyler about fighting hadn't had any effect on him. Tyler still let his temper get the best of him. An internal battle waged inside of Nathan. He knew he should take Tyler out of the game, but he also knew Tyler was his best shot at a comeback this late in the game. He would deal with Tyler after the game.

Every time Tyler got the ball, he made a 3-pointer. He tied it up at the last minute and the game went into overtime. He single-handedly won the game for the Ravens. The applause from the crowd was deafening. Nathan was the only one in black and blue who did not look happy.

* * *

Sarah waited in anticipation for the game to end. She sighed when it went into overtime. She was on her feet before Tyler's final shot came through the net and landed on the court. "See you." Sarah was eager to get away from Brooke and Julian and all of their rules. The days she'd spent confined to their house had been almost as bad as the weekend she'd spent in jail. She felt like she had no freedom. Sure, Brooke's house was more luxurious than a jail cell, but Brooke and Julian were also more overbearing than the policemen.

"Be good," Julian said.

"Curfew is 12:00 sharp." Brooke issued the reminder to Sarah in a stern tone. She started worrying as soon as Sarah was out of her line of vision. She had one rebellious teenager and one teenager who couldn't walk away from a fight. She shook her head. "I can't believe Tyler got in a fight in the middle of the game."

"What's that? Two fights now? That's a fight a week," Julian said.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but that kid sort of deserved to get his ass kicked." Brooke knew it was a childish notion. Adults talked about their problems calmly and rationally, but part of her had been cheering Tyler on when he hit Aaron.

"I know." Even though Julian had never resorted to violence, he understood why Tyler felt his actions were justified.

"We're good parents, right?"

Julian knew Brooke desperately needed reassurance that she wasn't a horrible mom for condoning fighting. "Yeah. I think parents are supposed to be protective of their children. That kid hit Tyler first. He got his just desserts."

* * *

Nathan summoned Tyler to his office. He sat across from Tyler. Even though Tyler had a strong resemblance to Lucas, his personality was more like Nathan's was in high school. He was volatile. He had a bad attitude and an even worse temper. Nathan knew yelling at Tyler would lead to another blow-up. His tone was firm, but he didn't raise his voice. "We just had a talk about walking away."

"He sucker punched me!"

Nathan sighed. He knew Aaron had been begging for a fight. If he'd been in Tyler's shoes, he would have done the same thing. "I know. And that's exactly what I would have done, but if you can learn to walk away, you'll be tougher than I ever was."

"I tried." Tyler was being honest. It had taken all of his self-control not to punch Aaron in the face the 1st time Aaron threw the ball to a player who wasn't even open instead of Tyler. Tyler made it through the vast majority of the game without hitting Aaron even though Aaron was begging for it. He didn't want to get in a fight because more than anything else he did not want to disappoint Brooke and Julian. If Aaron hadn't thrown the 1st punch, Tyler would have walked away.

"Try harder."

"Okay."

* * *

Brooke and Julian were waiting for Tyler in the gym. The crowd was gone and the gym was empty. It made such a difference. The energy of the crowd always put Tyler on edge. The silence of the empty gym was peaceful.

Tyler wore a sheepish expression. He looked at the court as he spoke. "I'm sorry. I tried to walk away, but I just couldn't." He looked up slowly. He was afraid of what he would see. Their disappointment would hurt more than the sucker punch had. He was relieved when he saw understanding and forgiveness.

"Now that's what I call entertainment. It was a good game and there was a fight." Julian's light tone complemented by a grin confirmed that Tyler had read their expressions correctly. They weren't disappointed.

"What is that kid's problem?" Brooke asked. Her tone and word choice made it clear that she was on Tyler's side.

"According to him, I stole his spot on the team and now I'm trying to steal his girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend?" Brooke asked. She felt like a stupid mom for not knowing that her foster son had a girlfriend. She didn't know that much about him.

"No. There's this girl. She hit on me. I didn't know she was his girlfriend."

"Does this girl have a name?"

"Melissa Roberts." Brooke made a mental note to ask Nathan and Haley if either of them knew her. She didn't like that Tyler was getting in fights because of Melissa.

"Do you like her?" Julian asked.

"Yeah, I guess."

* * *

"Hey. That was an eventful game," Haley said.

"Yeah. Getting in a fight in the middle of a game is pretty stupid," Nathan said.

Haley's lips curved into a faint smile. "Kind of reminds me of someone else I used to know." Nathan bowed his head shamefully. Haley intertwined her fingers with Nathan's. "You know, you were a lot like him and you got past it. If anyone can handle him, it's you."

"I talked to him, but I don't know if it made a difference."

"Nathan, it makes all the difference. You have an opportunity to help him. You just have to take it."

"I'm glad you took a chance on me. You changed everything for me. You were the only one that could help me."

* * *

Sarah dug through her backpack and came up with the bottle of Vicodin. A triumphant smile played across her face. "Look what I've got." She offered the bottle to Andie. Andie helped herself to a pill. She washed it down with the beer she'd been nursing. Sarah took the beer from Andie and swallowed a pill.

"How's your ankle?"

"Nothing a few drinks won't take care of."

Sarah drank until she was starting to feel buzzed. She always craved cigarettes when she drank. She went outside and approached a group of guys who were smoking. "Can I bum a cigarette?"

One of them offered her a cigarette. He used his own burning cigarette to light hers. His eyes never left Sarah's. Sarah was uncomfortable under his gaze. Her eyes flickered down to the driveway. "Thanks."

"We're going back to my place for an after-party. You should come."

Sarah had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could feel his intense stare burning into her even though she wasn't looking at him. The way he looked at her scared her. "I gotta go." She darted a glance up and saw his expression harden. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. Familiar with dangerous territory, she treaded lightly. "I'm going to be late. My curfew is 12:00." The curfew Sarah resented gave her an excuse to leave. It let him know that someone was expecting her.

* * *

Exhausted from the game, Tyler went to bed early. Brooke and Julian sat on the couch, waiting to make sure Sarah got home okay.

"I'll bet you she doesn't come home on time," Brooke said.

"What do you want to bet?" Julian asked.

"If you win, I'll do whatever you want in the bedroom." Brooke winked at Julian.

Julian's lips formed into a grin. He liked the terms of the bet. "Do you want her to screw up?"

"Of course not, but she's a rebellious teenager. Her parents and her other foster parents have never laid down ground rules. It would surprise me if she made it easy." Brooke remembered Sam testing her by sneaking out when she'd 1st moved in. It dredged up memories of her own teenage rebellion. She'd put Karen's parenting skills to the test.

Sarah walked through the door at 12:00 on the dot.

A triumphant smirk played across Julian's face. "I win."

Sarah caught the remark. Her eyebrows arched up slightly. "Wait a minute, did you bet on whether I'd be late?"

Julian's smirk faded. He didn't want Sarah to think they didn't trust her. He wanted to believe she was a good kid. He knew she needed someone to believe in her when no one else did. "Yeah." His tone was remorseful.

"What did you win? I think I should get half." Sarah wasn't all that surprised. She was used to people thinking the worst of her. She might as well profit from it.

Julian looked at Brooke helplessly. He couldn't give Sarah half because he'd won Brooke. Brooke wore a bemused expression. Her eyes glittered mischievously as she waited to hear Julian's explanation. Julian pulled a $20 out of his wallet. He hoped she'd believe he'd won money.

Sarah moved closer to the couch to claim the money. As she did, Brooke caught the distinct scent of cigarette smoke wafting off Sarah. She'd never liked the smell of cigarettes and she really didn't like the smell when it was coming from her foster daughter. "Sarah, did you smoke tonight?" Brooke's tone turned the question into a reprimand.

"No."

"You smell like smoke. You're lying to my face." Brooke raised her voice slightly. Her fury seeped into the accusation, making it even more powerful.

Sarah had smoked, but she sure as hell wasn't going to admit to anything. "I smell like smoke because my friends were smoking. I wasn't. Do you want me to take a lie detector test?" Sarah maintained eye contact while she lied through her teeth. The lie was flawless. She didn't feel bad about lying, so her nonexistent guilt didn't betray her. It was a game to her. She would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. If she had to lie to smoke, she would put her poker face on.

Brooke's eyes bored into Sarah's. Satisfied that Sarah could look her in the eyes and tell her that she hadn't smoked, Brooke actually felt bad for thinking the worst. "I'm sorry."


	12. Chapter 12

A knock at the door broke Tyler's concentration from the video game he was playing. The scent of pizza wafted into the house when he opened the door. "Brooke, the pizza's here!"

Brooke covered the speaker on her cell phone. She was in the middle of a conversation with her lawyer. "There's money in my purse!"

After a quick scan of the room, Tyler located Brooke's Prada bag sitting on the kitchen counter. He opened her wallet, but there were no bills in it. "No, there isn't!"

Brooke hung up with her lawyer and went into the living room. "Did you find it?"

"Uh, no."

Brooke dug through her bag. She also came up empty-handed. "That's weird. I just went to the bank." She remembered the deliveryman standing awkwardly in the foyer. Her expression went from panicked to apologetic. "I'm sorry. I can write you a check."

* * *

Tyler went up to Sarah's room while Brooke squared everything away with the deliveryman. She wasn't in her room; she was in the shower. He peeked in her purse. His eyes landed on a few crisp 20 dollar bills. He wasn't all that surprised.

Sarah walked into her room freshly showered. She stopped when she saw Tyler. Her hazel eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Hey Ty."

Tyler held the money up. "What's this?" He didn't wait for an explanation. He didn't need one. He knew she was capable of stealing. "Why would you steal? We've got a good thing going here."

Sarah's confusion turned to indignation. "I didn't steal."

"Don't lie to me." Tyler's tone hardened.

"Believe whatever you want to believe." Beneath the anger was hurt.

"How could you do it after everything they've done for you?"

Sarah knew she was beyond redemption in Tyler's eyes. He was her judge, jury and executioner. Anger and hurt swirled around inside of her. "I'll do everyone a favor and leave."

"Fine."

Sarah was taken aback by the flat response devoid of any emotion. The anger and disappointment were gone. Tyler didn't care anymore. She wasn't his family; Brooke and Julian were his family. "So much for innocent until proven guilty." With that, Sarah grabbed her bag and stormed downstairs.

* * *

Julian came in and saw Brooke writing a check for pizza. An amused grin played across his face. He knew she'd just gone to the bank the day before. He wouldn't put it past Brooke to spend all of the money she'd taken out in one day. She was a shopaholic. "Didn't you just go to the bank? I need to get a 2nd job."

"I didn't spend it! It's missing."

Julian's forehead creased in concern. He noticed Brooke's bronze Prada bag sitting beside her on the counter. "Wait a minute, didn't you have your black Chanel purse yesterday when you went to the bank?"

Brooke's features relaxed, her earlier panic gone. Julian was right. She knew she would find the paper envelope from the bank in her other purse. She broke into a smirk. "I can't believe you remember what purse I had."

"I do because you were wearing a blue top and a black skirt and you looked amazing." The way Julian looked at her assured her that it wasn't her bag he noticed; it was Brooke that he noticed. He noticed everything about her.

Brooke felt Julian's eyes on her as she moved around the kitchen. Her lips formed into a confident smile. She knew he wanted her. She took 4 plates out of the kitchen cabinet and set them on the table. They sat down at the table and waited for Sarah and Tyler to join them.

Patience was a virtue Brooke lacked. She was used to instant gratification. Brooke Davis waited for nothing and no one. It had only been a few minutes and Brooke's patience was already fraying. Her eyes flickered to the stairs. She wondered what in the hell Tyler and Sarah were doing up there. Brooke was about to go up to get them when Sarah finally came down.

Brooke's eyebrows arched upward. She gestured to the table and waited impatiently for Sarah to sit down.

"You hungry?" Julian asked.

Sarah walked past the table without a word. Brooke's lips twisted into a perplexed look. The door slammed behind Sarah before Brooke could resolve her confusion.

"Was it something I said?" Julian asked.

Tyler came down shortly after Sarah. He set the twenties down in front of Brooke. "Here."

"What's this?"

"Your money. Or what's left of it anyway." Tyler's sheepish expression matched his contrite tone.

"That's not my money. My money was in a different purse. I found it." Brooke saw the shadows of regret in Tyler's eyes. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but she asked anyway, "What happened?"

"I thought she stole it."

Brooke's eyebrows arched upward indicating that he should continue. The disappointment on Brooke and Julian's faces made Tyler feel even worse than he already did.

"How did she get that much money?" He wasn't defending himself; he was trying to understand how he could have been so wrong when all the evidence pointed to Sarah.

"She's been watching Jamie after school. Haley's been really busy. She has the record label, she's pregnant and Quinn is still getting better."

Tyler's lips parted in surprise. He had practice after school, so he had no idea Sarah was babysitting. His sister was trying to help Haley and he accused her of stealing. He knew he couldn't repair the damage he'd caused.

"Where is she?" Brooke asked.

"Gone."

"Where is she?" Brooke asked the same question she'd asked mere seconds ago, but the way she asked it was completely different. It was no longer a simple question. Now there was only one answer that would make her stop worrying. She wanted Tyler to tell her Sarah would come home. The desperation was evident in her voice.

Tyler couldn't tell Brooke what she wanted to hear. He knew Sarah was gone for good. "I'll go look for her." It was all he could do, but it wasn't enough.

"We'll all go look for her," Julian said.

"You shouldn't be anywhere she would go."

That was the wrong thing to say. Brooke's mind went to the darkest places they could find Sarah. In the depths of her mind, she remembered when she'd found Sam at X's house. "We're going with you. Just let me get my gun."

Tyler's eyes widened. "Wait. You have a gun?"

"I was attacked in my store. After that I got a gun for protection."

* * *

Tyler knew Sarah would be at Joe's house. She would want to blow off steam.

"Stay in the car." Tyler knew from experience Brooke wasn't going to listen to him, but he had to try.

"No."

"I screwed up. I need to talk to her alone."

An internal battle waged inside Brooke. She wanted to be there for Tyler and Sarah, but she also understood how he felt. She'd declined Peyton and Haley's offer to go with her to X's house when she was looking for Sam because she needed to talk to Sam alone. "Okay." Her conflict was evident in her tone.

Tyler went into the house he'd been in many times before. The crowd was sparse; it was a school night. The teenagers who were full-time students and part-time criminals were conspicuously absent. The crowd was a mixture of car jackers, gang members and a handful of others, including Sarah.

Tyler spotted his sister sitting on the couch. A cigarette was dangling out of her mouth and she was holding a beer bottle in one hand. He crossed the room and stood in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sarah had plenty of time for the fury to seep in and the alcohol in her system exacerbated her anger.

"Looking for you."

"I'm not looking to be found."

"Then why'd you come here? You knew this was the 1st place I'd look." Tyler's tone was light. He hoped to get a smile out of his sullen sister, but she didn't budge. He sighed. "I just want to talk to you."

"Why?"

"I'm sorry."

This wasn't the first time Tyler hadn't believed Sarah when she was telling the truth and she knew it wouldn't be the last. It opened old wounds. Sarah couldn't forgive him easily. He'd hurt her more than he realized. "I'm not going back with you."

"I said I'm sorry. What do you want me to say?" Frustration and desperation were evident in his voice.

"There's nothing you can say. I'm not going back with you."

"I'm not leaving without you."

"Fine. Stay."

Tyler considered waiting her out, but knew she could outlast him. Once Sarah made her mind up, there was no stopping her. Anyone who tried to get in her way wouldn't know what hit them.

Brooke and Julian had been waiting anxiously in the car, their eyes fixed on the door. They saw Tyler come out alone and their hopes deflated.

"She wasn't there?"

"She was there, but I don't think she's coming back."

"We're not leaving her here." Brooke's tone was firm. She would go in there and bring Sarah home one way or another. With that, Brooke turned the car off and the trio went into the house.

* * *

Brooke and Julian stood out like a sore thumb. All eyes were on them as they crossed the room to the couch. Sarah turned to see what everyone was staring at and her mouth opened in surprise. She couldn't believe Tyler brought them here.

Julian saw the cigarette hanging out of Sarah's mouth and the beer bottle in her hand and felt a surge of disappointment. He wanted to believe she was a good kid, but she was making it really hard on him.

Brooke knew being falsely accused of stealing by Tyler had hurt Sarah. She felt bad for Sarah. Until she saw what Sarah was doing. As soon as she saw that Sarah was smoking and drinking, anger overcame all other emotions. To Sarah's surprise, Brooke ripped the cigarette out of her mouth and crushed it into the coffee table. Her eyes never left Sarah's. They flashed with fury.

"We should get you home," Julian said.

"No, I'm not going back with you."

"Sarah." Brooke said Sarah's name in a dangerous tone that contained a warning. "Come on." She raised her voice slightly as she issued the command. She stared at Sarah, waiting for her foster daughter to obey. Brooke's lips formed into a thin, angry line and her eyebrow arched up as she waited.

"No, I'm not going!" Sarah reached a volume that pierced the ears of everyone in the room.

Brooke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "_Now_." Her hand closed around Sarah's wrist. She tried to pull Sarah to her feet, but Sarah resisted.

"Let go of me! Leave me alone!"

Joe descended on them with back up close behind. He towered over them. Even Tyler paled in comparison. Everything about his appearance was intimidating. "Get out of here." It was directed at Brooke and Julian.

"We are," Julian said.

Brooke made another attempt at pulling Sarah up from the couch. This time Sarah stood, but promptly jerked her arm out of Brooke's grasp. The beer in Sarah's hand splashed out with the motion. "I'm not going! Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"She doesn't want to go." Joe stepped in between Sarah and Brooke. The implication was clear-Joe stood between Brooke and Julian taking Sarah home.

"Brooke…Julian, come on," Tyler said. He saw the look in Joe's eyes and knew they needed to get out of there now.

"She's 15 years old, so she's coming with us whether she wants to or not. I don't want to call the police to report the underage drinking and drugs, but I will if I have to," Julian said.

"You don't know who you're talking to." Joe pulled a gun on Julian.

Brooke's hand dipped into her purse and closed on her gun. She was scared, but the instinct to protect Julian and her foster children overcame her fear. She wouldn't hesitate to use the gun.

Sarah stepped forward. "Leave him alone, alright?" Her request was met with a glare from Joe. She held up her hands in surrender. "We're leaving."

"Get out of here."

* * *

As soon as they got outside, Brooke secured a firm hold on Sarah in case she tried to make a break for it. She didn't relax her hold until they reached the car.

"What the hell, Tyler? Why did you bring them here? You see how well they fit in? Someone could have gotten hurt!"

"Why the hell were you there?" Brooke raised her voice. Her anger only intensified. Her volume, tone and expression were intimidating enough to scare Sarah and Sarah didn't scare easy. Sarah didn't say anything. "You are 15 years old!"

"Drinking and smoking, Sarah? What's that about?" Julian asked. Disappointment pervaded his voice.

"You drink. What's that about?" Sarah turned the question around on Julian.

"I'm over the legal drinking age."

"You don't drink _because_ you're over the legal drinking age. That's not a reason. Why do you drink?" Julian didn't know what to say. He didn't have as much practice at dealing with sarcastic, rebellious teenagers as Brooke. When he didn't answer fast enough, Sarah continued. "Are you a social drinker? Or maybe you drink to escape?"

"Is that what you're doing? Trying to escape?" Julian asked.

Sarah nodded.

"Well, next time you want to escape, find another way!" Brooke said. Her tone softened slightly, but anger was still evident in her voice.

* * *

Brooke sank down onto her bed beside Julian. It had been a long night. She'd been on an emotional rollercoaster. She was glad Julian had been along for the ride. She didn't have to do everything alone anymore. He was always there for her.

Brooke's hazel eyes bored into Julian's. "I was so scared when that boy pulled a gun on you. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I love you, Julian Baker."

"I love you, Brooke Davis."

Julian pressed his lips to Brooke's. Her lips parted in invitation. He deepened the kiss. Brooke's hands traveled through his hair. She dragged his shirt over his head. She shrugged her robe off, revealing black silk pajamas. The black offset her porcelain skin nicely. Julian's fingers stroked down her body. The silk was smooth under his touch.

They wanted each other, but more than that they needed each other after the night they'd had. They needed the comfort that came from being in the arms of the one you loved.

Brooke craved closeness as a reminder that she wasn't alone anymore. It seemed like every time anything went wrong, the people she loved left her-Victoria, Lucas, Owen, Sam. Julian was different. He'd seen her at her worst and he kept coming back for more.

They couldn't get enough of each other. Julian didn't think his thirst for Brooke would ever be quenched. He wanted her just as much if not more now as he had the 1st time he'd been with her.


	13. Chapter 13

Brooke poured 2 bowls of cereal while Julian made coffee. They ran through the familiar motions of making breakfast without thinking. They were both tired from the night before.

"How you doing?" Julian asked.

"I've been better," Brooke said.

"I know. What are we going to do about Sarah?"

"I don't know what to do. I'm _so_ pissed off that she was smoking and drinking, but none of this would have happened if Tyler hadn't accused her of stealing."

"It led to a series of unfortunate events. She's had enough people in her life that don't believe in her. Maybe she just needs someone that does believe in her."

"So she's not grounded?" Brooke's eyebrows arched upward, betraying her doubt. She didn't know what to do. She didn't think it was fair to be hard on Sarah when Tyler was at least partially to blame for the turn of events, but she couldn't let her foster child smoke and drink.

"This is her only get out of jail free card."

"Monopoly?"

"What can I say? I like to play games." Julian broke into his signature smirk.

* * *

Sarah and Tyler sat at the breakfast bar and ate breakfast in silence. Julian tried to make small talk as he drove them to school. They answered his questions politely, but didn't exchange a word to each other. Tyler finally tried to break the silence when they got out of the car.

"Can't you just forgive me?" Tyler's plea was ripe with desperation.

"Like you forgave Mom?" Sarah's bitterness cut into Tyler.

"This is different."

"Yeah, it is. You actually stole that car. That's why Mom kicked you out. I didn't do anything wrong, but somehow you're still making me out to be the bad guy."

* * *

Sarah threw the remnants of her lunch away and left the school building. She had about 10 minutes before class started. She was having a bad day. She needed a cigarette. She just hoped she could find someone smoking outside. She was in luck. She saw a tall blonde guy and approached him.

"Hey. Can I bum a cigarette?" The words left her mouth before she saw his face. He turned and she realized she'd just asked the guy that Tyler got in a fight with at the game for a cigarette. "Never mind." She turned back toward the school.

"Hey…wait." Aaron offered her a cigarette.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" A smirk played across Sarah's face. She knew he wouldn't be being this nice to her if he knew she was Tyler's sister.

"You're Tyler's sister." The answer was quick. Sarah's mouth opened slightly in surprise. Aaron smirked. "He's not my favorite person, but I don't know you."

"He's not my favorite person right now either."

"What did he do to you?"

"Long story."

"I have time."

"Cliff's Notes version is he accused me of stealing."

"Sorry."

"Aren't you gonna ask me if I did it?"

"You wouldn't be this pissed if you did it." Sarah broke into a dimpled smile. Her own brother didn't believe her, but a complete stranger believed her, no questions asked. "How pissed are you?"

"Pretty pissed."

"Are you pissed enough to get back at him?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'm the last person Tyler would want going out with his sister."

"You're asking me out?" Sarah's eyebrows arched up in surprise. Her lips curved into a faint smirk. She had nothing in common with him. He drove a Porsche paid for by his dad; she stole cars.

"No. I'm asking if you want Tyler to think we're going out."

"Good because you're not my type." Sarah's tone was light and playful, but at the surface was the truth.

Aaron's cocky smirk faded for the 1st time since they'd started talking. "And you're mine?"

"Do I look like a cheerleader?" Sarah smirked.

"So we're in agreement? I'm not your type. You're not mine. This is just for Tyler's benefit."

"I'm in."

Aaron flashed a perfect smile. He took one last drag from his cigarette and then put it out on the sidewalk. He left Sarah to finish her cigarette.

"Haley said you were smart. Smoking at school? That's pretty stupid," Nathan said. He had lunch with Haley at Tric. He'd just returned to Tree Hill High School.

* * *

Brooke and Julian were waiting when Sarah got home from school. Nathan had called to tell them he saw Sarah smoking. They'd had a few hours for their anger to simmer to a boiling point.

"Sit down." Brooke pointed to a chair at the kitchen table. Her eyebrows arched upward as she waited.

Sarah stood defiantly. She wasn't a dog and they sure as hell weren't her masters.

"You can stand, but you have to talk to us," Julian said.

Sarah reluctantly sat down.

"You were smoking last night and we figured, okay, you were hurt because Tyler didn't believe in you, so we gave you a 2nd chance and what do you do? You were _smoking_ at _school_! What the hell?" Brooke raised her voice. The volume combined with her livid tone and expression was an intimidating combination.

"Sorry." Sarah's tone made it clear that she wasn't sorry at all. She was just saying what they wanted her to say because she thought it would bring the conversation she didn't want to have to an end.

"Where did you get the cigarettes?" Brooke asked.

"A friend shared. Since you stole mine."

Brooke didn't think anything Sarah could say would piss her off more. She was wrong. She stared at Sarah, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I didn't steal them. I took them away. There's a difference."

"What's the difference? You didn't pay for them."

"The difference is that stealing is illegal; taking cigarettes away from a 15 year old is good parenting," Julian said.

"You're grounded." Brooke's volume returned to normal, but her tone was firm.

"You don't understand how this works, so let me explain it to you. You cash the government checks and you leave me alone. You can't ground me. You're not my parents." They knew Sarah wouldn't be happy, but the amount of anger in her tone exceeded their expectations.

Julian saw a flash of pain in Brooke's eyes. He knew Sarah's choice of words was a harsh reminder that they would never be "real" parents. He rubbed her back, the familiar motion comforting her.

Sarah's reaction reminded Brooke of her own reaction when Karen grounded her.

"_You're grounded," Karen said._

"_Grounded?" Brooke asked. Her lips formed into a faint smirk. The idea of Brooke Davis being grounded was laughable. "I've never been grounded in my whole life."_

"_Well, there's a 1__st__ time for everything." Karen's tone was firm. She didn't raise her voice; she didn't need to._

"_Well, you're not my mom." Brooke realized Karen was serious, but Karen couldn't ground her, could she?_

"_No, but right now you're my responsibility." With that, Karen left Brooke to go to bed. _

Karen had been like a real mom to Brooke. Now Brooke was on the other side of that situation. She used Karen as an example of how to handle Sarah. "No, we're not your parents, but right now you're our responsibility and you are grounded."

"Not anymore." The anger was gone now. Sarah started for the door.

Brooke grabbed Sarah's arm to stop her from leaving. "And where do you think you're going?"

"This isn't going to work for me anymore."

"Yeah, it is. You're not leaving. We are _not_ kicking you out. This is your home now and it's going to stay that way."

"You must really want the government check. The checks will keep coming as long as you keep your mouths shut." Sarah's tone was complemented by a slight smirk that told them she was amused.

"That's not what this is about," Julian said.

Sarah tried to break free, but Brooke tightened her hold on Sarah's arm. Brooke saw a flash of fear in Sarah's eyes. She remembered the bruises Sarah had courtesy of her last foster parents and knew why she was scared. Brooke released Sarah, but stayed close enough to block her exit. "You're not leaving. You're going to have to get past us first."

Sarah's gaze flickered to Brooke's hands. She braced herself for impact. After several seconds she realized Brooke wasn't going to hurt her and relaxed. With the fear gone, Sarah's attitude was back. "You can't watch me all the time."

* * *

"How was practice?" Julian asked.

"Okay," Tyler said. He joined Brooke and Julian at the table for dinner. Sarah was conspicuously absent. "Are we, uh, waiting for Sarah?"

"No. She's a little mad."

"She's mad at me." Tyler looked at them with a sheepish expression, his dark eyes begging for forgiveness.

"She's mad at all of us."

"What did you do?"

"She's grounded and she's not happy about it," Brooke said.

"She's grounded?" Tyler's eyebrows arched up slightly. "Is she still here?" His voice was full of doubt.

"Yeah." Brooke's mouth opened slightly and her eyes narrowed. She didn't expect Sarah to be happy about being grounded, but she thought the intensity of her anger stemmed from the fact that they weren't her "real" parents. "Did Sarah run off when your mom grounded her?"

"Uh, my parents never…"

"Yeah, my parents never grounded me either," Brooke said.

"Yeah?" Tyler's lips formed a faint smile. He looked at Julian. "What about you?"

"I never did anything bad."

"He was a mathlete." A smirk played across Brooke's face.

"Really?" Tyler smirked. His dark eyes shone with amusement. "I was going to ask you where to go on a date, but I'm guessing you didn't get out much."

"Who's the lucky girl?" Brooke asked.

"Melissa. We're gonna go out after the game on Friday."

"Where do you usually go?" Julian asked.

"I've hung out with girls, but I've never actually been on a date." A blush crept over Tyler's cheeks.

"This is your 1st date?" Brooke broke into a dimpled smile.

"Yeah."

"Dinner and a movie is a classic," Julian said.

"What did you guys do on your 1st date?"

"Our 1st date was a business meeting. Brooke designed the costumes for a film I was producing."

"That was not a date." Brooke broke into a dimpled smile as she remembered trying to convince Sam and Peyton that it wasn't a date.

"It was a date." Julian's signature smirk played across his face as they argued playfully. "And we discussed the wardrobe over dinner here."

"You're a cheap date." Tyler's light, teasing tone was complemented by a smirk.

* * *

Julian walked into the bedroom. Brooke had set up the Monopoly board on their bed. She was sprawled across the bed waiting for him. Her lips formed into an inviting smile.

"Is that Monopoly?" Julian asked.

"Strip Monopoly actually," Brooke said. She winked.

"I didn't know you could play Strip Monopoly."

"Oh, you can play strip anything." Brooke's tone was playful. Her hazel eyes glittered mischievously.

* * *

When Julian pulled up to Tree Hill High School to drop Tyler and Sarah off, Nathan was waiting.

"What's he doing here?" Tyler asked.

"He's walking Sarah to class," Julian said.

"I think I can find it," Sarah said sarcastically.

"I'm not worried that you can't find it. I'm worried you'll run off to get out of being grounded, so Nathan is going to walk you to every class. And after school, he'll walk you to Brooke's car."

"Are you serious?" Sarah's tone was a mixture of anger and horror.

"I'm afraid so. You're a flight risk."

* * *

Brooke knew that if anyone would know how to handle Sarah, it would be Haley. She was a great mom and a really good teacher. She'd known exactly what Sam needed. She'd been able to help Quentin. Brooke hoped she would have the answers now. Brooke stopped by Red Bedroom Records to talk to Haley. Haley and Mia were in the studio working.

"Hey!" Mia said. She broke into a smile when she saw Brooke. "How's the new line? I can't wait for everyone to be wearing me!"

"I'm working on it, but that's not why I'm here." The usually energetic and cheerful Brooke Davis looked worn out and stressed. Her smile was forced.

Haley's lips formed a sympathetic smile. "So I heard Sarah was smoking at school."

"We tell her no smoking and she just does it anyway. When we grounded her, she wanted to leave. I just don't know what to do with her." Brooke's initial exasperation slowly turned to desperation as she vented her frustrations.

"She wanted to leave?" Haley's surprise colored the question. From what she knew about the foster care system, Brooke's home was a diamond in the rough. Sam slept in a car because her foster home was overcrowded and she'd said it was one of the better homes she'd been placed in.

"Yeah. It's different with her. Sam and Tyler wanted to move in with me. If she wants to leave, I don't know…maybe we should let her."

Haley saw the flash of pain in Brooke's eyes and heard the underlying hurt in her tone. Sam wanted to live with her birth mother instead of Brooke and now Sarah wanted to leave. Haley knew Brooke was hurting, but she couldn't even begin to understand how Brooke felt. "Brooke, she's a kid. She doesn't know what she wants."

"She knows what she _doesn't_ want. She doesn't want to stay with us." Beneath Brooke's sarcasm was hurt.

"Maybe not, but this is exactly what she needs. She needs structure. She needs rules. She needs someone to protect her even if right now that means protecting her from herself."

"She would rather be with people who hurt her than be with us."

"That's not true. She's been with you for a week and she hasn't run off. The only reason she wants to leave now is because she doesn't want to be grounded."

"And I thought Sam was bad. She never threatened to run off when she was grounded."

"Sam reminded me of you. She was acting out for attention because she never had parents who were there for her. Sarah reminds me of Nathan. She had attention from her parents and they were awful. She doesn't want attention; she just wants to be free of parents." Haley remembered how much pain Dan and Deb caused Nathan. Nathan went the drastic route and became an emancipated minor. By the time Dan and Deb tried to make it right with him, it was too late; he wanted nothing to do with them. Between Sarah's birth parents and the foster parents who hurt her, it wasn't all that surprising that Sarah didn't want anything to do with parental figures.

"Oh, and Sam felt like she owed you because she threw a party in your store and ruined Peyton's wedding dress. If Sarah was just smoking, she probably feels like the only person she's hurting is herself," Mia said. She remembered Sam working as her assistant at the USO Show to make up for ruining Peyton's dress.


	14. Chapter 14

Things don't always go according to plan. Sarah had a plan. If her plan had gone off without a hitch, Julian would have dropped her off at school, but she wouldn't have made it to class. She would have ditched school, Brooke and Julian and foster care in one foul swoop. She would have been halfway across town instead of sitting in class right now. Julian had thrown a wrench in her plan. Nathan walked her to class, so she had to go. She sat in class quietly seething.

Sarah hoped to lose the escort and cut out after 1st period, but Nathan was waiting outside her classroom. She waited until about 10 minutes into 2nd period. She wanted to make sure Nathan was long gone. Then she asked if she could go to the bathroom. The little piece of paper in her hand wasn't just a hall pass; it was her ticket out of a dictatorial house and into anarchy. It represented freedom.

By the time Sarah's teacher realized she wasn't coming back from the bathroom, Sarah was at Andie's house. The school called Brooke to tell her Sarah left during 2nd period.

"Sarah's gone," Brooke said. They'd known she was a flight risk. That's why they took the precaution of having Nathan walk her to class. She didn't know what else they could have done.

Julian's eyes clouded with confusion. "But Nathan walked her to class."

"Yeah, but she asked if she could go to the bathroom and disappeared." Brooke's frustration seeped into her voice. She didn't know what to do. She hated feeling like she'd failed.

"We'll look for her. We'll do whatever we have to. We'll find her."

"Where would she go?"

"I don't know. I don't even know who any of her friends are."

Brooke realized that she did know who Sarah's best friend was. The night Sarah's previous foster dad threw her down a flight of stairs she was going to crash at Andie's place. Brooke caught Sarah and Andie smoking on the deck. Their friendship was reminiscent of Brooke's friendship with Peyton. Brooke had spent more nights at Peyton's house than her own when they were in high school. They'd been partners in crime. "Andie. She'll be at Andie's house." There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in Brooke's mind. Her voice was filled with certainty.

* * *

"Can I crash at your place tonight?" Sarah asked.

"You don't even have to ask. You're not going back to Brooke's?" Andie said.

"No. She's a bitch." Sarah's expression and tone hardened. Beneath the hard exterior was pure fury.

Andie's lips curved into a smirk. Her eyes shone with amusement. Sarah was in rare form. On the seldom occasion Sarah's anger hit its boiling point, she was dangerous. "What did she do?"

"She grounded me." Sarah said as though it was ridiculous. She used the same derisive tone people would use to talk about UFOs. "Who the hell does she think she is? She's not my mom." Her earlier humor was gone. Her tone was deadly serious.

Andie chuckled. She could imagine Brooke grounding Sarah. She knew Sarah well enough to know Sarah wouldn't have taken it lying down.

"It's not funny!" Even as the words left her mouth, Sarah's lips curved up into a faint smile. Andie was the only person who could tease her out of a bad mood. "When does your mom get off work?"

"She'll bring dinner around 6:00 and then she has to go back to work."

Confident that they had time before Andie's mom got home, Sarah helped herself to a cigarette from the pack in Andie's purse. Andie lit one for herself. Andie's mom was a chain smoker. The lingering scent would go unnoticed.

Andie's younger brother, Johnny, came in. He had the same raven hair and golden skin as Andie. His hair was in need of a haircut. He joined Andie and Sarah on the couch.

"How did you get home so fast?" Johnny asked.

"We ditched," Andie said.

Johnny's eyes widened. It was the only sign that he was impressed. He was too cool to say anything. His eyes flickered to the cigarette in his sister's hand. "Can I have one?"

Sarah's lips formed into an amused smirk. "_Can_ you have one?" Her sarcasm didn't escape the 13 year old.

"Yeah."

"Okay," Andie said.

Johnny lit a cigarette and took a drag. As soon as the chemicals hit his lungs, he coughed hard. Andie and Sarah burst into laughter. A blush crept over Johnny's cheeks.

* * *

Andie's house was a block from Sarah's previous foster home. Brooke had lived in Tree Hill for the better part of her life. She'd never set foot in this neighborhood until Tyler and Sarah walked into her life. Now she was constantly pulled there.

People fear the unknown. Oftentimes if people get to know what they fear, their fear is replaced with understanding. Brooke had gotten to know the area, but the opposite had happened-her fear intensified with the knowledge. This was where Sarah had been thrown down a flight of stairs. This was where Joe had almost shot Julian. Brooke hoped this would be the last time she would ever have to come to this neighborhood.

"Do you think she'll be here?" Julian asked.

"She'll be here," Brooke said.

Julian knocked on the door of Andie's house. Andie cracked the door open.

"Hey. We're looking for Sarah. Is she here?" Brooke said.

Andie looked at Sarah. Sarah shook her head slightly and then slipped into a hiding spot on the floor behind the couch.

"No," Andie said. She started to shut the door, but Julian stopped it with his foot.

Julian peered over her head and searched the small house for any sign that Sarah had been there. "Isn't that her bag?"

Andie followed his gaze to Sarah's bag, which was on the floor by the couch. She didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Her silence said more than any words could have.

"If Sarah doesn't come home with us, we're going to call the police and report her as a runaway. It's illegal to harbor a runaway," Julian said. He had her and they both knew it.

Andie opened the door wider in surrender. Brooke and Julian walked toward Sarah's bag. They saw Sarah crouched on the floor, her form no longer hidden from view. Sarah reluctantly stood. A blush crept over her cheeks. Brooke put a hand on Sarah's shoulder and pushed her gently toward the door.

* * *

Sarah's plan had backfired. When she left Brooke and Julian's house that morning, she planned on it being the last time she ever laid eyes on the house or its owner. Less than 7 hours later she was walking through the door of Brooke's house with Brooke and Julian behind her.

"Sit down," Julian said. He pulled a chair out for Sarah at the kitchen table. Sarah reluctantly sat down. Brooke and Julian stood across from her. The difference in height enhanced Brooke and Julian's authority and made Sarah feel small.

"You cut school and ran away!" Brooke raised her voice. Her anger seeped into her tone and expression.

"I meant it when I said we will call the police and report you as a runaway. You will stay here or we will be looking for you and the police will be looking for you. Trust me, the chances are slim to none that we won't find you." Julian never raised his voice, but his tone was firm. His eyes bored into Sarah's.

This was a game to them, but it was Sarah's life they were playing with. Brooke and Julian had her right where they wanted her. Knowing the game was over and they'd won only infuriated Sarah more. "This isn't a game. This isn't hide and seek."

"I know. We're not playing." Julian spoke with quiet determination.

"You're still grounded. And we're going to add another week for the disappearing act you pulled." Brooke's volume returned to normal, but the anger was still there, intensifying the impact of every word she fired at Sarah.

"Your principal wants us in her office tomorrow morning."

* * *

Sarah sat in between Brooke and Julian in the principal's office. The principal, Mrs. Rimkiss, was across from them. Sarah was surrounded by enemies.

"You've missed 10 days of school this month."

Sarah stared at the floor. She didn't say anything. Missing school didn't affect anyone. Her teachers were paid whether or not she was sitting in the classroom. Her truancy sure as hell didn't affect Brooke and Julian.

All of the adults stared at Sarah. They wanted an apology. They expected her to at least acknowledge that Mrs. Rimkiss was talking to her. After several seconds of silence, Mrs. Rimkiss gave up on getting a response from Sarah. "You're suspended for 3 days."

"The consequence for missing school is suspension? So she's going to miss 3 more days of school? Isn't that giving her what she wants?" Julian said sarcastically.

"Sarah was suspended earlier this month and she didn't learn her lesson." As much as Mrs. Rimkiss hated to admit it, Julian had a point. She had Sarah's attendance information up on her computer. She brought up Sarah's grades. "You have a 4.0 GPA. This semester you have a C-average. Your pathetic attendance is reflected in your grades. I changed my mind. You're no longer suspended. You have detention every day after school for the next month. If you want to keep your GPA up, you will use the time to study. Is there anything else besides your absences going on? Has anything been going on at home?"

Brooke saw an opportunity to help Sarah and seized it. "Actually-"

Sarah's gaze snapped up. Her hazel eyes pierced Brooke's. They were filled with fury. Sarah's life was none of Mrs. Rimkiss' business and it was sure as hell not Brooke's story to tell. "No."

"Actually Sarah's had a really hard year." It wasn't what Brooke was originally going to say, but she wouldn't betray Sarah's trust by telling her life story when Sarah didn't want her to.

"Have you given any thought to college?" Mrs. Rimkiss asked.

"My mom spent her disposable income on drugs. She didn't save any of it for college." Sarah's voice was ripe with sarcasm. If Brooke wanted to talk about Sarah's life, Sarah would talk about it.

"With your GPA and test scores, you can get an academic scholarship for any school in North Carolina," Mrs. Rimkiss said.

"What do you mean her test scores?" Brooke asked.

"Sarah scored in the 98th percentile on the PSAT. She scored higher than most of our honors students."

"Can you move her into honors classes?" Brooke asked.

"I don't think so."

"She scored higher than most of your honors students. I'm sure she would do great in honors classes. Think about it." Brooke picked up on Julian's barely contained sarcasm, but it escaped Mrs. Rimkus.

"She's not doing great in the classes she's in. She doesn't attend them regularly and when she does attend she's a discipline problem."

"We will make sure she goes to class," Brooke said.

"If Sarah signs a behavior contract that she will follow school policies and attend class, we can transfer her into honors classes."

* * *

Sarah stormed out of the principal's office. Brooke and Julian caught up with her outside the school building.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Brooke didn't understand what had set Sarah off. Sarah had gotten out of her suspension and been moved into honors classes. She should be happy, but she looked mad.

"What is it with you? What did I ever do to you? Ever since I moved in, everything's gotten worse! Do you spend all your free time thinking of ways to screw with me? I didn't care about the suspension, but you just couldn't leave well enough alone and now I have detention! I don't want to be in honors classes!" Sarah unleashed all of her fury on Brooke and Julian. They were infiltrating every part of her life.

"You're not supposed to be happy about the consequences for cutting class." Brooke looked pleased with herself.

"Aren't you a little happy that you're in honors classes?" Julian asked.

"You did great on the PSAT." Brooke knew Sarah was smart, but she'd still been surprised at how high Sarah scored on the test.

"Yeah, we're proud of you."

* * *

Julian, Brooke, Tyler and Sarah were sitting at the table eating dinner.

"How'd it go with the principal?" Tyler asked.

"It went great," Brooke said. She broke into a smile. Knowing how well Sarah was doing filled her with a sense of pride.

"That's a matter of opinion," Sarah muttered under her breath.

"Not only is Sarah not suspended, but the principal moved her into honors classes," Julian said.

A smirk played across Tyler's face. "Wait, are you telling me that you're an honors student?" His tone was light and teasing with sarcasm laced in.

Sarah didn't answer. She didn't need to. The look she was giving Tyler told him that she was an honors student and she wasn't happy about it.

Tyler chuckled. "Dork."

Brooke knew she shouldn't enjoy Tyler tormenting his sister as much as she was, but she couldn't help it. She tried not to smile, but her lips curved up. Sarah deserved it.

"You know, I was an honors student," Julian said.

"Sorry." Tyler's wide grin told Julian he wasn't sorry; he was enjoying himself. Dinner with his mom and dad had never ended with good-natured jokes and laughter; it usually ended with swearing and screaming. The atmosphere at the Atkins table was never light. He liked feeling like he was part of this family.

"Julian was a mathlete," Brooke's lips formed into a smirk, teasing Julian.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sarah said sarcastically.

"Brooke was surprised. She couldn't believe she was dating a mathlete instead of a basketball player." Julian's lips curved up slightly. His eyes glittered mischievously. He looked at Brooke. He was remembering when she was designing the wardrobe for _An Unkindness of Ravens_ and made him a letterman jacket.

"Hey, I've dated boys who didn't play sports." Brooke's tone was defensive. She knew they probably wouldn't have gone out if they'd met when they were in high school.

"Yeah, actors and singers." Julian would never forget the many men who had come before him. He'd researched her dating history online when she'd been unable to tell him that she loved him. Deep down he knew she loved him, but he needed to hear it. He wanted to know what had made her so afraid to let people in. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was that she'd chosen him out of all her possibilities.

"Actors and singers?" Tyler asked.

"Colin Farrell and Nick Lachey, just to name a few."

"Colin Farrell?" Tyler had a hard time imagining the classy woman he saw as a good mom going out with the infamous playboy.

"Okay, Julian got his information from the Internet. You can't believe everything you read online," Brooke said.

Tyler's eyebrows arched up. "So you didn't go out with him?"

Brooke pursed her lips. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want him to see her as the girl she used to be. She wanted to be a good role model for her foster children. "I went to functions with celebrities when I lived in New York. It was good publicity for my company. None of the boys I dated meant anything to me."


	15. Chapter 15

Tyler excused himself from the dinner table. He slung a black duffel bag with Ravens emblazoned on the side in blue over his shoulder. It was his 3rd game as a Raven. He didn't know why he was so nervous, but the nerves never faded. It didn't matter that he'd won both of the games he'd played in. "I guess I'll see you at the game."

"Are you going out with Melissa after the game?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah." The date was only adding to his nerves. He had a game and a 1st date with the most popular girl in school in 1 night.

Julian threw a set of keys in the general direction of Tyler. It was a bad throw, but Tyler managed to catch them anyways. He stared at them and his eyes clouded with confusion. "I, uh, already have a house key."

"They're not for the house. They're for the Bronco." It was ironic that Julian was giving Tyler the keys for the car Tyler had tried to steal not too long ago. It hadn't taken long for Tyler to earn Julian's trust. There was no doubt in his mind that both Tyler and the car would be home at the end of the night.

"You're giving me your car?"

"No, I'm letting you borrow it. Melissa would probably prefer to be picked up in a car." Julian's sarcasm was complemented with his signature smirk.

Tyler was surprised to say the least. No one had ever trusted him with anything before. He knew the sticker price of the car. It wasn't a BMW, but it was expensive. "Thanks."

* * *

Brooke climbed the stairs to Sarah's room. Sarah hadn't left her room since they grounded her. She only graced them with her presence if she was starving. She was still angry and she'd been pouting for the last few days. Brooke opened the door. Sarah was sitting on her bed reading.

"Hey, you ready?" Brooke asked.

"If I'm grounded, maybe I shouldn't go to the game." Sarah's eyebrows arched up. Her lips formed into a slight smirk. Her tone was sarcastic. It was a test. It was a dare.

Brooke's eyebrows arched up higher than Sarah's. "Do you _really_ expect us to leave you here alone, Houdini?" Brooke's tone told Sarah there was no way in hell she was staying alone.

"So I'm only grounded when it's convenient for you?"

"No, you are grounded for 2 weeks. You can leave the house to go to school and when you're with us." Brooke didn't raise her voice. She was eerily calm. There was an underlying firmness. Sarah's expression hardened. She didn't move. Brooke put her hands on her hips. "Let's go. Now."

* * *

Sarah and Brooke's battle of wills made them late for the game. Haley and Jamie were saving them seats in the otherwise packed house.

Jamie broke into a smile. "Sarah! Can you sit by me?"

"There's no one I'd rather sit by." Sarah's tone contained just enough sarcasm for Julian and Brooke to know it was a dig directed at them, but not enough for Jamie to know she wasn't being serious. She sat down beside him.

"We're winning." Jamie spoke as though he was a part of the team. He felt like he was. He was just as invested in the Ravens winning as Nathan and the players were.

"Yeah, well, Tyler's good." Sarah wasn't surprised. She'd seen her brother play at the river court. It was different. He and Mark were usually playing 2-on-2 with guys from their neighborhood. They were all good, but none of them would play for an organized team. They didn't want a coach telling them what to do. They preferred to play by their own rules. They played for money and Tyler almost always won. The fact that Tyler was now playing for the Ravens and playing by all of Brooke and Julian's rules showed how much he'd changed. Most people would say he'd changed for the better, but Sarah didn't like the changes. He was forgetting where he came from. He was forgetting their parents. He wanted to forget her.

"My dad says he's good enough to win the state championship."

Brooke kept a wary eye on Sarah as she sat down in between Haley and Julian.

Haley's lips formed into a smile as she watched her son talk animatedly to Sarah. She looked at Brooke. "Hey. He's been asking when he can hang out with her again. I have to ask her if she minds watching him during the party tomorrow."

"You're having a party and you didn't invite me?" Brooke's eyebrows arched up at the 1st mention of a party that was apparently the following day. Her tone was light, but she was genuinely curious.

"No, Brooke, we're not having a party. It's a fundraiser for the basketball team. One of the player's parents is hosting it. All of the players and their parents are invited. Didn't Tyler tell you?"

Brooke looked at Julian. From his expression, she could tell this was the 1st he'd heard about it, too. "No."

"That might have something to do with the fact that it's at Aaron's house. He's the one that Tyler got in a fight with at the game last week. Nathan said his dad reminds him of Dan. He's even the mayor. The party should be almost as much fun as the one Dan hosted when we were in high school." Haley remembered the night Karen asked her to bring more dessert to Nathan's house during the party. She felt so out of place at that party. She'd been the outsider. Brooke had read the note she'd written to Nathan aloud to humiliate her more than she already was. Now she never felt more comfortable than when she was with Nathan and Brooke was one of her best friends.

"Yeah." Brooke forced her lips into a weak smile. The smile didn't show her dimples. She couldn't help but wonder if that was why Tyler hadn't invited them, or if it was because he didn't want them there. _All of the players and their parents are invited_. But Brooke and Julian weren't Tyler's "real" parents. It brought back old insecurities.

Julian was also hurt that Tyler hadn't included them. He'd been close to Sam, but he'd never had the same type of relationship with her that Brooke did. He hadn't felt rejected when Sam left and eventually cut off contact. Now he finally knew how it felt to pour your heart into being a good parent and have the child see you only as a temporary substitute. He was better at hiding the pain than Brooke, though. "So we're going into enemy territory." His light tone was complemented by a smirk. "But I don't think it's a good idea for Sarah to watch Jamie. She's grounded."

* * *

Aaron saw Sarah in the stands. After the game, he waited for her to make her descent. "Hey. Just the person I was looking for."

Both Brooke and Julian's eyes clouded with confusion. The kid had a lot of nerve talking to them after sucker punching Tyler. It took several seconds for them to realize he was talking to Sarah. Brooke put her hand on Julian's arm and gently pulled him to the side, giving Sarah enough to space to have a conversation, but watching to make sure she stayed in their line of vision.

"You couldn't have been looking that hard. We go to the same school."

"You're not easy to find. You don't exactly have a perfect attendance record."

He'd noticed her absences. Sarah's lips curved into a smirk. "Did you miss me?" Her tone was sarcastic, almost mocking.

Aaron's smirk faded. "What? No. Look, there's this party at my house on Saturday. It's a fundraiser for the team. Tyler will be there. I want you to come with me." He wasn't asking. He expected her to come. Most girls would have given their right arm for 1 date with him. He was popular, good-looking and rich. But Sarah wasn't like most girls. She didn't look at him like he was God's gift to women. She almost looked at him with contempt.

"I can't. I'm grounded."

The admission surprised Aaron. It was the 1st time a girl had said no when he asked her out. He also had a hard time imagining the hardcore badass in front of him being grounded. The shock gave way to anger. "That's just great. Tyler isn't going to believe we're going out if you can't go out with me."

Sarah saw Tyler talking to Melissa out of the corner of her eye. Her lips formed into a smirk. "You're really bad at this."

"I'm bad at this? You're the one who got grounded."

"Shut up and kiss me."

Aaron opened his mouth to protest, but Sarah pressed her lips to his to shut him up. She knew Tyler would see. There was nothing Sarah could have done to surprise Aaron more. She acted like she didn't even like him and now she was kissing him. He couldn't begin to understand her. She was a walking contradiction. His eyes were wide open. He saw Tyler and Melissa flirting and suddenly understood. Melissa looked uncomfortable. Tyler looked like he wanted to send Aaron to an early grave. Tyler started in their direction. Aaron would have to remember to thank Sarah later.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Tyler's demand was directed at Aaron, but Sarah answered before he could. "I was just congratulating him."

Brooke and Julian had hurried over when they saw their foster child kissing Aaron. Brooke wasn't all that surprised that her 15 year old foster daughter was kissing boys. She'd been having sex at that age. But she _was_ worried that Sarah was kissing the _wrong_ boy. Julian looked like he wanted to kick Aaron's ass.

"Is that how you congratulate all of the players?" Julian's voice was a mixture of anger and horror.

"Of course not. That would be incest." Sarah spoke in a matter of fact tone. She looked at Tyler. "Good game." Her lips formed into a smirk.

"Good game?" Tyler repeated. He couldn't believe that was all that his sister had to say to him after making out with the ass that sucker punched him.

Brooke could see that Tyler was about 2 seconds away from punching Aaron. She intentionally moved so that she was in between them. "Yeah, you won again. We're proud of you." Her tone was gentle. She hoped her words would have a calming effect on him. "You should go shower. Melissa's waiting."

Tyler looked at Aaron. His expression told Aaron that this wasn't over. His eyes flashed dangerously. He spared one last glance at Sarah. He shook his head and walked away.

Aaron started to follow in the direction of the locker room, but Sarah called after him. "You might want to give him a minute to calm down." Aaron ignored her warning.

* * *

Melissa was waiting outside the locker room. Tyler was one of the last players to come out. Tyler took her to a restaurant. It was a step above fast food, but it wasn't an expensive restaurant. He didn't have very much money and he didn't want to take money from Brooke and Julian.

"What were you doing talking to Brooke Davis and Julian Baker?" Melissa asked. An avid reader of gossip magazines, she'd instantly recognized them and it piqued her curiosity.

Tyler studied her while he tried to decide how much he should tell her. "I live with them."

Melissa's eyes widened. "That's so cool! Are you guys, like, related?"

"No. My mom's in prison. I was crashing at a friend's place. I tried to steal Julian's car and they kind of took me in."

"You tried to steal his car?" Beneath her surprise, Melissa sounded impressed.

"Yeah. This car actually." Tyler's mouth curved into a hesitant half-smile.

"Wow. And I thought my family had problems."

"Oh yeah?"

"My mom is in the middle of her 4th divorce." Melissa's face contorted in a mixture of disgust and horror. Her tone was disapproving.

"I don't really have any advice. I wanted my parents to get divorced."

"Why? Was it really that bad?"

Tyler looked down. He didn't want her to see the pain in his eyes as he remembered how bad it could be. He and Sarah weren't the only ones his dad laid his hands on; he gave their mom more than a few black eyes as well. "Worse." His voice was hoarse when he finally answered the question.

Melissa put her hand on top of Tyler's. "I'm sorry."

Tyler looked up. His lips formed into a smile. "Thanks."

"You want to get out of here? My friend Molly is having a party."

* * *

Melissa led Tyler into Molly's beach house. She looked like she knew exactly where she was going. She pushed her way to the front of the line for the keg. She filled a plastic cup for herself and then looked at Tyler. "You want one?"

"No, I don't really drink."

"I thought you were supposed to be a bad boy." Melissa's tone was teasing. She flashed a flirtatious smile at him.

Tyler's eyebrows arched up. "Stealing cars isn't bad enough for you?"

"Trying to steal a car doesn't count."

Tyler's lips formed into a smirk. She had no idea how many cars he'd stolen or that he was friendly with the owner of a chop shop.

* * *

Tyler looked at the passed out girl in the passenger seat. He didn't know what had happened. Melissa was talking to another cheerleader so Tyler went to talk to a few of the guys from the team. The next time he saw Melissa, she was drunk. Determined to get her home okay, he'd practically carried her to Julian's car.

"Where do you live?" Tyler said. He was talking to himself. He didn't expect an answer from Melissa. He opened her wallet and located her address on her license.

Tyler pulled to a stop in front of Melissa's address. It was more of a mansion than a house. He touched her shoulder gently. "Melissa, come on. You have to get up."

After unsuccessfully trying to wake Melissa, Tyler lifted her into his arms. It surprised him how light she was. He used her keys to open the door. He was grateful that her parents weren't home. Her stepdad had already moved out. Her mom had used the pending divorce as an excuse for a trip to the spa.

Tyler gently laid Melissa down on the couch. He draped a throw blanket over her. He'd done the same thing for his mom for years. He stared at her for several seconds before leaving.


	16. Chapter 16

Julian was already up when Tyler woke up. Julian was sitting at the breakfast bar with a glass of orange juice and the newspaper. Tyler poured a cup of coffee and joined him.

"How was your date?" Julian asked.

"Okay," Tyler said.

"Just okay? It doesn't sound like you had very much fun."

Tyler shrugged. "I don't know if I'll go out with her again. We're from 2 different worlds."

"There's only 1 world," Julian said.

That's what people like Brooke and Julian thought. Tyler knew different. People from their world wouldn't survive 1 day in Tyler's world. Tyler didn't say anything. He didn't want to argue with Julian, but that didn't mean he agreed with Julian. A roll of his eyes told Julian that he wasn't convinced.

When Brooke woke up, she found Julian and Tyler sitting side by side at the breakfast bar. They were both reading the paper. Julian had given Tyler the sports section. Brooke poured herself a cup of coffee and stood across from them. They looked like father and son. They simple act of sharing the paper showed how comfortable they were with each other. Brooke broke into a dimpled smile.

"Are you going to the party at Aaron's house tonight?" Brooke asked a leading question. She didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Yeah. Everyone on the team has to." Tyler's response didn't give Brooke the answers she was looking for.

"We'll go with you if you want." Brooke felt like she was grasping at straws. The offer came off as more of a desperate plea.

Tyler looked up from the paper. For the 1st time he saw the fear mixed with pain in Brooke's eyes. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. He spoke quickly to ease her fear. "I just…I didn't know if you would want to come." It was the truth. They'd done so much for him, but they weren't his parents. He felt awkward inviting them to a party for players and their parents. The fact that it was a fundraiser only complicated things further. He didn't want them to feel like they had to make a donation. They'd already done more than enough.

"We want to come," Julian said.

"It's just…it's not just a party. It's kind of a fundraiser."

"Okay…" Brooke looked at Tyler uncertainly.

"Brooke lost her company, but I'm still gainfully employed." Julian's sarcasm was complemented by a smirk. It was an attempt to lighten the mood.

"You really don't have to do that. I can't keep taking things from you."

"We want to give you things," Brooke said.

* * *

Brooke and Julian were getting ready in their room.

"You look amazing in that dress," Julian said. His volume was soft. His eyes were filled with desire. He was looking at her like he wanted to undress her. Brooke knew that look.

"Julian, we have to leave soon."

"I think we have enough time."

Brooke looked like she was about to give in. Then she caught her reflection in the mirror. She'd spent almost an hour on her hair and make-up. "No. I just got ready." Brooke saw Julian's smile fade. "You can help me take the dress off when we get home." Her tone softened. She winked at him.

"Okay. What are we going to do with Sarah?" Julian asked.

"We have to take her."

"So we're taking her to a party when she's grounded?" Julian's doubt seeped into his voice.

Brooke had the same doubts. Worse still, the party was at Aaron's house and Sarah liked Aaron. It felt like they were rewarding her, not punishing her. "What do you think we should do? We can't leave her here alone. She could burn the house down or run off again."

"I guess we can't hire a babysitter for a 15 year old."

"The only people that I would trust to handle her are Nathan and Haley and they're going to the party, too."

* * *

Brooke and Julian found Tyler and Sarah sitting on the couch in the living room. Tyler was ready. He was wearing the same suit he'd worn the day before. It was the suit he'd worn every day they had a game. Brooke needed to get him another suit. Sarah was wearing a white tank top and jeans.

"Sarah, go get ready. We have to leave for the party," Brooke said.

"I'm ready."

Used to Sarah copping an attitude every time they wanted her to do something, Brooke prepared for a battle. She put her hands on her hips. "This is a formal party. You are not wearing jeans."

Sarah's eyebrows arched up. "Do I look like I own formal dresses?"

"Show me what you have. I'm sure we can find something."

Sarah and Brooke went into Sarah's room. Brooke started in the direction of her closet. She opened the closet door. The closet was completely empty. "Where are all your clothes?"

Sarah started pulling clothes out of her bag. Brooke realized Sarah had her bag packed and ready to go. She didn't know if Sarah had gotten used to foster parents giving up on her and learned to never unpack or if Sarah was still planning to run away the 1st chance she got. "You can unpack. You're not leaving anytime soon." Brooke's sarcasm lightened the half-order, half-threat.

Sarah was used to adults making idle threats. She usually just assumed they wouldn't follow through. Following through required time and effort and no one had ever wanted to put time and effort in. She knew Brooke and Julian were different. She just didn't know why they were going out of their way to hold her there against her will. She knew she couldn't leave. She'd left twice and both times they found her. She didn't like being told what to do and she _really_ didn't like having to actually do it. She pursed her lips in annoyance.

Brooke looked at each item as she hung it up in the closet. She realized Sarah didn't have much and what she did have would be inappropriate for a formal party.

"Come on. I'm sure we can figure something out. It just so happens I have a lot of clothes," Brooke said.

A few minutes later Brooke and Sarah were standing in front of Brooke's closet. Brooke pulled a red dress and held it up to Sarah. "This is a good color on you."

Sarah went into the bathroom to change.

"Are you ready yet?" Brooke asked.

"It doesn't really fit."

"Come here."

Brooke stared at Sarah speechlessly. She looked like a beautiful young lady instead of juvenile delinquent. The bruises that had once been visible on Sarah's arms and back had finally faded. The dress was low-cut. It was big on Sarah. Brooke knew it would be. Sarah was petite and skinny.

"I can make this work," Brooke said.

Brooke closed the distance between her and Sarah. It was the 1st time Sarah let Brooke get that close without flinching. Sarah knew Brooke wouldn't hurt her. If Brooke were violent, Sarah would have seen a sign of it by now. Brooke set to work altering the dress, her expert hands working the needle until the dress fit Sarah perfectly.

* * *

Aaron's house was in the same neighborhood Brooke lived in when she was in high school. It was a large 2-story red brick house with a 3-car garage. It couldn't be more different from where Tyler and Sarah grew up.

A middle-aged man opened the door. He had sandy colored hair and blue eyes. He stared at Tyler and his lips curved up into a smile, but it wasn't a warm, welcoming smile; it was an amused smile. "Tyler Atkins. Come in."

Julian, Brooke, Tyler and Sarah followed the man in.

"I'm Eric Wilson, Aaron's dad."

"It's nice to meet you," Tyler said. He extended his hand politely.

"It's nice to finally meet the Ravens star player. We don't win a game all season and then Nathan Scott puts you on the team and suddenly we're undefeated. Now where did he find you?" Eric said.

"The river court."

Eric stared at Tyler as though he were incredibly stupid. "What team did you play for?"

"Uh, I didn't play for a team."

Eric chuckled. "That's just great. A kid who never played before is better than my son who has played since he was five."

Tyler's lips curled into a snarl. "Hey, I've played. I just didn't play on a team."

"Apparently if I wanted a winner for a son, I should have driven through the ghetto and adopted a juvenile delinquent playing on the playground."

Julian's anger boiled. He spoke in a quiet but deadly tone. "This is a party for the kids. I think we should try to act like adults."

"Enjoy the party," Eric said. Those were his parting words. He went to greet another family.

"What an ass!" Brooke said.

"I know. Now I actually feel sorry for his kid," Julian said.

"Hey, there's Nathan and Haley," Brooke said.

Brooke and Julian went to the corner occupied by their friends.

"I see you met Mayor Wilson," Nathan said.

"Is he always such an ass?" Brooke asked.

"Pretty much."

"Kind of reminds me of Dan," Haley said. She shuddered.

"Yeah, maybe it's like an unwritten rule. The biggest tool in town is the mayor," Nathan joked.

* * *

Aaron almost didn't recognize Sarah when he saw her. She'd given her jeans a rest for the night and was instead wearing a red dress that clung to her curves in all the right places. She wasn't wearing her trademark smirk. To his surprise, the normally self-assured badass looked self-conscious.

"Hey. You came." Aaron flashed a perfect grin.

"You asked so nicely," Sarah said sarcastically. Her lips formed into a teasing smirk. "It must run in your family."

"You met my dad?" Aaron asked.

Sarah nodded. "He's a pleasant man." The amount of sarcasm in her tone was obvious to even the most oblivious listener.

Aaron laughed. "You only got a small dose of him. Try living with him. He's poisonous."

"Yeah, I know something about poisonous parents."

"And you didn't think we could find common ground. We're both pissed at Tyler _and_ we lost the parent lottery. We're 2 peas in a pod."

Sarah's lips curved into a rare smile. "You're not as bad as I thought you were."

"And you're not as badass as you think you are."

Sarah punched Aaron's shoulder playfully.

"You hit like a girl."

Sarah's jaw set in determination. Her hand curled into a fist. She was about to hit him as hard as she could. He caught her wrist before she could deliver the blow.

"I'm just kidding. You could probably kick my ass in a fight." Aaron's light tone was complemented by a playful grin.

Sarah relaxed her hand. "Damn straight."

"Of course I would never hit a girl so it wouldn't be a fair fight."

Sarah felt Brooke's stare. Brooke had been watching her like a hawk since they set foot in the Wilson's house. She thought getting out of the house would be a nice break, but she felt just as suffocated here as she did at Brooke's house. "Do you want to get out of here for a little while?"

Aaron led Sarah up the staircase to his room. He put a disc into the Wii and grabbed 2 controllers.

Sarah's eyebrows arched up. "You have a girl alone in your room and you want to play video games?" Her suggestive tone was complemented by a teasing smirk.

"Boxing. Let's see how tough you really are."

* * *

Melissa had been looking for Tyler. She waited until his family dispersed to talk to him.

"Hey. Thanks for taking care of me last night."

"Do you always drink like that?" Tyler's words were cool. His expression was frigid.

Melissa's smile dissolved. "Like what? Like everyone else? We're in high school. It's okay to have fun."

"Maybe it's not fun for me."

Melissa looked even more surprised by his response than she was by the icy reception. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I."

"Can we just start over?" Melissa's lips formed into a hesitant smile. She extended her hand. "Hi. I'm Melissa Roberts."

Tyler was prepared to say no, but her charade amused him. He broke into a dimpled smile. He shook her hand. "Tyler Atkins."

"That's the 1st time I've seen you smile. Are you always so serious?" Melissa's light, teasing tone was accented by a perfect smile.

Tyler's eyebrows arched up. "Always? We just met."

"Was that a joke? There's hope for you yet."

"Yeah…" Tyler trailed off when he saw his sister and Aaron going upstairs. He left Melissa without giving an explanation. Upstairs he followed the sound of his sister's laughter to Aaron's bedroom. With every step, he grew angrier.

"You want something?" Aaron asked. It wasn't just a question. It was a challenge. He moved closer to Sarah and put an arm around Sarah.

"Stay away from my sister," Tyler hissed. His tone was venomous.

"Oh, I'll stay away from your sister, but I can't guarantee she'll stay away from me." Aaron's cocky statement was accented with a smirk.

That was the wrong thing to say. It pushed Tyler over the edge. He aimed a blow at Aaron. Sarah quickly stepped between them. She didn't think Tyler would hit her. She wasn't prepared for the blow that landed square on her jaw. She fell to the ground.

Tyler stared at his sister lying on the ground, protecting her face with her hands. He'd seen her in that position before, but he'd never been the one who put her there. Guilt stabbed at him.

Aaron wasn't going to fight Tyler. He knew Tyler could kick his ass in a physical fight. That's why he resorted to psychological warfare. Getting under Tyler's skin was too easy. He saw Sarah on the floor and felt an uncontrollable urge to protect her, defend her. Even though Tyler was bigger and stronger, Aaron punched him hard.

Staring at Sarah, Tyler didn't see Aaron's fist flying toward his face. He felt it collide with his nose and heard his nose break. Tyler would have knocked Aaron flat on his ass, but he was more concerned with Sarah.

Both Tyler and Aaron offered Sarah a hand. Sarah accepted Aaron's hand. He continued holding her hand after she was on her feet. She wouldn't even look at Tyler.

Sarah and Aaron went downstairs and into the kitchen. Aaron got an icepack out of the freezer. He held it to Sarah's jaw. At 1st the cool felt soothing on her sore jaw. After a few minutes the cold started to hurt. Sarah moved Aaron's hand from her jaw. Aaron gently traced her jaw with his fingers. He leaned in. His lips touched hers gently, softly. Slowly he deepened the kiss. Sarah's fingers ran through his hair and rested on his neck. When they broke apart, Aaron's lips were curved into a soft smile.

"What was that? Tyler's not here," Sarah said. The kiss took Sarah by surprise. They wanted Tyler to think they were together, but they weren't together. They were alone in the kitchen. There was no one to put on a show for.

Sarah didn't see the flash of pain in Aaron's eyes. His smile faded. He inched away from her. "I know. Sorry."

* * *

When Brooke and Julian were ready to leave, they found Tyler and Sarah. Brooke's eyebrows arched up and her mouth opened slightly in surprise when she saw the bruise forming on Sarah's jaw and the dried blood on Tyler's swollen nose. She waited until they were in the car to ask about the origins of the injuries.

"What the hell?" Brooke didn't need to specify what she was referring to. Tyler and Sarah knew. In the rearview mirror, she saw both teenagers look down.

They drove in silence for a few minutes. The tension in the car mounted. Tyler finally broke the silence. "It's my fault. I'm sorry."

"For what?" Brooke's volume increased slightly. Her patience was rapidly fraying.

"I hit Sarah." Tyler saw the look of shock and disappointment on Brooke and Julian's faces and quickly elaborated. "I didn't mean to. I was trying to hit Aaron."

"And then Sarah hit you?" Julian asked. It wasn't an accusation. It was a guess. Tyler's broken nose was the clue. He wasn't angry; he was disappointed.

"No. Aaron hit me."

"Why?" Brooke asked.

"He hit me after I hit Sarah. I was trying to hit him because he's using Sarah to get to me."

"Sarah, are you and Aaron together?" Brooke asked.

Sarah shrugged. "We've been hanging out."

"Aaron's older than you." Brooke's tone made it clear that she disapproved.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "By 1 year."

"He's gotten in 2 fights with Tyler."

"Tyler's gotten in 2 fights with him." Sarah re-worded the statement, changing Aaron into the victim and Tyler into the bad guy.

Brooke sighed. She'd forgotten how exhausting high school drama could be. She didn't know what to do. Tyler hadn't actually hit Aaron this time. As much as Brooke didn't want her foster daughter going out with Aaron, she knew she couldn't forbid Sarah to see him. Knowing Sarah, telling her she couldn't see him would only make her want to see him more. At a loss for words, the last thing Brooke said to them that night was a sharp, "Go to bed!"

* * *

Brooke and Julian were in their bedroom getting ready for bed.

"Aaron's not a good kid," Julian said.

Brooke's eyebrows arched up. Her lips formed into an amused smirk. "I thought you felt sorry for him."

"I didn't know he was using Sarah. Now I kind of wish Tyler hit him."

"Instead of Sarah?" Brooke said sarcastically. "We don't know that he's using Sarah. Nathan was using Haley to get to Lucas."

"Nathan and Haley? They love each other so much." Julian's surprise colored the question.

"Yeah. That's how they got together."

"Brooke, they got married when they were 17. If you're trying to make me feel better about this relationship, you're not doing a very good job."

"Haley's parents let her get married and Nathan was emancipated. We're not going to let Sarah get married."

"Speaking of getting married, how are the wedding plans going?" Julian's lips curved into a soft smile.

"The Bridal Expo is this week. I want to go to get ideas. It's hard planning the wedding on a budget. We can't afford most of what I wanted."

"How's the new line?"

"I'm working on it, but I'm not finished. It won't be in stores for at least a few months. I don't know how successful it will be."

"You lost your company, but you didn't lose your talent. You're smart. You will make this line successful."

"I love you, Julian Baker."

"I love you, Brooke Davis."


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** Thank you for your reviews. In this chapter, I brought Sylvia in. I used some of the dialogue from the show, but changed it to work with this story.

* * *

Julian was watching Brooke get ready. He thought she was beautiful without any make-up. He loved her in jeans and a t-shirt. He liked watching her put make-up on. Bare, she was exposed, vulnerable. As she applied blusher and lip gloss, she became more confident. Her confidence was sexy.

"What are you doing today?" Julian asked.

"I'm going to go to the Bridal Expo," Brooke said.

"I was just thinking about the wedding and I realized I don't have a best man. I was thinking about asking Tyler." Julian loved Tyler like a son. Tyler was old enough and mature enough that their relationship often crossed the border from parental to friendly. Julian enjoyed Tyler. They played video games together. They talked about girls together. Tyler was the 1st person who came to mind. Really he was the only person.

Brooke broke into a dimpled smile. She loved watching Julian and Tyler's relationship grow. Julian was so good with Tyler. "Just make sure he doesn't have a black eye or a broken nose on our wedding day."

"Do you think he'll say yes?" Julian looked worried, as though he was afraid Tyler would say no. He wrung his hands together, working out nervous energy. He needed reassurance.

"Of course. He loves you." Brooke's cool confidence more than made up for Julian's insecurity. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in her mind. Tyler had proven more than once that he cared for them. Sarah was the one who wasn't happy there.

Julian sighed in relief. "I was going to do something with him today and ask him."

As they walked into the kitchen, they saw that Sarah was already up, sipping a cup of coffee. Their eyes were drawn to the bruise on Sarah's jaw. It had turned an angry shade of purple over night. Just thinking about how much Sarah's jaw must be hurting was enough to make Julian wince.

"I'm fine," Sarah said.

"That has to hurt. Tyler's got a few pounds on you." Julian's light teasing tone was complemented by a sympathetic smile.

Julian was putting it mildly. Tyler weighed nearly double what Sarah weighed. The bruise was tender to the touch. Sarah wouldn't admit that it hurt even when it was painfully obvious to anyone with eyes. Letting anyone hurt her made her weak. She was too proud to be weak. "I have a bruise. Tyler has a broken nose." Sarah smirked.

"Do you think he needs a doctor?" Brooke's question was directed at Julian.

"I don't think they put casts on broken noses," Julian said.

Brooke poured herself a cup of coffee and got Julian a glass of orange juice. She started making pancakes. The aroma of pancakes woke Tyler up. He joined them at the table just as Brooke was putting breakfast on the table.

"Morning. How you doing? How's your nose?" Brooke asked. Her lips formed into a concerned frown. It was still swollen.

"Okay," Tyler said.

Unconvinced, Brooke handed him an icepack. "You need to ice it."

Tyler held the icepack to his nose.

"What are you doing today?" Julian asked.

"No plans. Why?" Tyler said.

"What do you say we go to the river court later?"

Tyler broke into a dimpled grin. "You play?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of watching you play."

Tyler chuckled. "Okay."

* * *

Someone knocked on the door. Annoyed by the unwelcome interruption, Brooke opened the door. A middle-aged woman was standing on the doorstep.

"Can I help you?" Brooke asked. Her tone told the woman she didn't want to help her at all.

"Is my son here?"

As Brooke processed the words and realized who the woman was, she winced. She wanted Julian's mom to like her. This wasn't a good 1st impression. "Oh, please God, no."

When Julian heard his mom's voice, he hurried to the door. "Mom!"

Julian introduced his mom, Sylvia, to Tyler and Sarah and helped her with her bags. He paused in the doorway. "I don't know if we have an extra room."

"She can have my room and I can leave," Sarah said.

"You're not leaving." Brooke's response was exasperated, frustrated and slightly amused.

"Just trying to help."

Brooke looked at Sarah. Her lips formed into a sassy smirk. "Don't." She turned to Julian. "I'll move the boxes out of the other guest room."

* * *

Brooke went upstairs and came back down, trying to balance 3 boxes of clothes. Tyler hurried over to help her.

"Thanks, Tyler."

"Yeah. Where do you want these?"

"Actually, I was thinking you can have them if you want them."

"What are they?" Tyler asked as he set the boxes down on his bed.

"Samples from the men's line for Clothes Over Bros."

"I thought your store only had women's clothes."

"Well, right now it doesn't have anything. It did have women's clothes, but I was working on a men's line before I lost my company. Actually, the men's line is kind of the reason I lost it. My mom lied to our investors to get money to finance it."

"Sorry. I know what it's like to lose everything because of your mom."

* * *

Brooke and Tyler returned to the kitchen. Sylvia, Julian and Sarah were sitting at the kitchen table. Julian had gotten Sylvia a plate and a mimosa. Brooke and Tyler joined them.

"So the reason that I came a few weeks early is that I want to help with the wedding. Financially," Sylvia said.

Brooke's lips parted in surprise. Julian's eyes widened. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I'm going to pay for the wedding. I want to make it the wedding that you've both always dreamed of. Julian, will you bring me another drink?"

"What's wrong with the drink you're holding?"

"It's almost empty."

Sylvia was talking to Tyler and Sarah in the living room while Brooke and Julian washed dishes in the kitchen.

"I can wait to do something with Tyler so you're not alone with my mom," Julian said.

"You should go to the river court with Tyler. We'll be fine. She can go to the Wedding Expo with me," Brooke said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Brooke knocked on Sarah's door and opened it. Sarah was sitting on her bed reading.

"Hey. Are you ready? We're leaving for the Wedding Expo soon," Brooke said.

"There's nothing I want to do at the Wedding Expo," Sarah said.

"Well, we're not leaving you here alone so you're coming whether or not you want to."

Sarah reluctantly got up. She walked into the bathroom. She didn't shut the door, so Brooke stood in the doorway. She watched Sarah dip a make-up brush into a tub of concealer and press the brush to the bruise on her jaw. Even the pressure of the soft bristles hurt. Sarah winced.

"Mind if I try?" Brooke asked.

"I'm pretty sure I've had more practice covering bruises up than you have."

"I'm pretty sure I've had a few more years putting make-up on than you have."

Sarah handed the make-up brush to Brooke. Brooke did Sarah's make-up, using her expertise to cover the bruise completely. She was careful to be extraordinarily gentle.

"Not bad." It was as close to a compliment as Sarah would give Brooke. The words left her lips begrudgingly. At the 1st hint of a cocky smirk on Brooke's lips, she hastily added to the reluctant compliment. "For your 1st time covering a bruise up."

Brooke's eyebrows arched up. She couldn't help but laugh at the incorrect assumption. The sound was mocking. "I'm no stranger to covering bruises up. I had a black eye on prom night. My best friend and I got in a fight. I was attacked in my store a while ago. I had 2 black eyes and a handful of other bruises."

Sarah's lips parted in surprise. She couldn't picture Brooke in a fight. She would have imagined Brooke would be too afraid she would break a nail. "Sorry." She spoke quietly. She rarely admitted that she was wrong. Genuine apologies were rare in her book. She hated apologizing to Brooke. She resented Brooke and Julian's rules. She couldn't believe they had the audacity to ground her. But, she had a history of violence and she couldn't help but feel bad for reminding Brooke of her own attack.

Brooke's lips formed into an amused smirk. "I think that's the 1st time you've actually felt like you owed me an apology."

* * *

Julian stood beneath the basketball hoop, watching Tyler sink basket after basket. Tyler was always good, but he was even better on the river court than in the Tree Hill High gym. He knew every inch of the court. He knew the sweet spots and the dead spots. He was at ease.

"When did you start playing?" Julian asked.

"I've always played. At recess. After school on the river court. Did you play any sports?"

"I didn't play any sports in high school. I played baseball when I was younger."

"Did you do anything? You know, other than math." Tyler's lips curved into a teasing smirk.

"I watched movies. A lot of movies."

"And now you're a film producer."

"Or at least I'm trying to be. I optioned a book, _An Unkindness of Ravens_. The author was actually Brooke's boyfriend in high school."

"Wasn't that awkward?"

"You have no idea. He was also engaged to my ex-girlfriend. I met Brooke when I was here working on the movie. But, my dad, who was also the head of the studio, got fired and the studio pulled the movie."

"Now you're working on your documentary, right?"

Julian nodded in affirmation. "And looking at scripts trying to find my next movie."

"Maybe you're looking in the wrong place. If you found your last movie in a book, maybe you should look in books instead of at scripts."

"You're a smart kid."

A blush crept over Tyler's cheeks. He looked down, watching the ball hit the court and bounce back to his waiting palm.

"Brooke's at the Wedding Expo today. We were talking about the wedding and I realized I don't have a best man yet. I want you to be my best man." Julian's nerves bubbled to the surface. He waited anxiously for Tyler's answer.

Tyler's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. He couldn't believe Julian would want him to be best man. It made him feel like he was important. "You sure?"

Julian's lips formed into a hesitant smile. "Sure I'm sure."

"Yeah, that'd be cool."

* * *

Sylvia led the way into the Wedding Expo. Brooke followed closely behind. Sarah, the least enthusiastic attendant, trailed behind.

"Well, what do you think?" Sylvia asked.

Brooke broke into a dimpled smile. "I feel like Bridezilla and this is my little unsuspecting Japanese village." Her eyes danced with excitement as she took in everything.

Sylvia's eyes scanned the expo and she quickly located champagne. She snatched up 2 flutes and handed one to Brooke. "To you and your wedding."

"Two of my favorite things," Brooke said.

After draining the glass, Sylvia skimmed the expo again. She walked toward a booth.

"Matt McGraw Weddings. They would be perfect for your photographer," Sylvia said.

"I'm sure they would, but I was actually going to ask my friend, Quinn," Brooke said. She spoke quickly. She phrased it as delicately as possible. She didn't want to get on Julian's mom's bad side by disagreeing with her.

"Quinn? Quinn who?" Sylvia's lips formed into a smug smile. Her words and tone were mocking.

"Quinn James."

* * *

As they progressed through the expo, it became clear than Brooke would not be able to make it through the day without disagreeing with Sylvia. Sylvia had a very concrete opinion on everything. Sylvia and Brooke's taste clashed.

Sylvia guided Brooke and Sarah to the section dedicated to bridesmaid dresses.

"Oh, here we go," Sylvia said.

"Oh, we can skip this section. I'm gonna make all the bridesmaid dresses myself. I think all my bridesmaids deserve a sexy Brooke Davis original." Brooke's lips curved into a smile.

"Sexy? The whole point is for them to look ugly so you look beautiful."

Brooke hung back when Sylvia proceeded to a dress rack. She made a quick call to Haley.

"Get your pregnant ass to the Wedding Expo pronto." It wasn't a request. It was a demand.

Sarah laughed, clearly enjoying Brooke's dilemma. Brooke looked at Sarah, her eyes flashing dangerously. She raised a finger, as a mom would do when scolding a toddler. "_Shut it_." The warning was stern.

"I didn't say anything."

* * *

Brooke stood in front of a mirror wearing a wedding dress. The dress was the complete opposite of what she wanted. She saw Sylvia returning with yet another dress and sighed.

"Please, Sylvia, no more dresses."

Sylvia completely misunderstood Brooke. She broke into a pleased smile. "You're right. This is the one."

Brooke was at the end of her rope. Between Sylvia and Sarah, her patience was rapidly fraying. She felt like screaming when Haley finally showed up.

"Hey! What a random and total coincidence. My best friend, Haley, is here unexpectedly." Sarah chuckled until she received a warning look from Brooke. "Let's see what she thinks. Hales!"

Haley followed the sound of Brooke's voice. She looked at Brooke with misty eyes. "You look so beautiful."

"Hi. Well, I told her this is the one. I'm gonna put these 2 back," Sylvia said.

"Are you kidding me, Haley? I called you here to help me!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"I'll help you," Sarah said.

Brooke's eyebrows arched up. "You want to help me?"

"Don't put words in my mouth. I'll help you, but it's gonna cost you."

Brooke put her hands on her hips. "What do you want?"

"I want to go out tonight."

"You're grounded." Brooke's voice was hard as steel. There was no room for negotiation. She wasn't going to give in. She wanted Sarah to learn her lesson.

"Suit yourself. You're not going to have the wedding of your dreams. You're going to have the wedding of your nightmares."

* * *

Sylvia handed a flute of champagne to Brooke, Haley and Sarah. Brooke quickly snatched Sarah's glass.

"Wouldn't this champagne fountain look beautiful at your reception?" Sylvia wasn't asking. She was telling.

"It's not really my taste." Brooke's responses had gradually gotten less polite as the day wore on.

"Well, what kind of wedding doesn't have a champagne fountain?" Sylvia wasn't listening to a word that came out of Brooke's mouth.

"Mine."

* * *

After a few too many unhelpful comments from Haley, Brooke said a hasty goodbye and dismissed her. When she returned to the last booth they'd been at, Sylvia and Sarah were nowhere to be found.

"Excuse me, have you seen a middle aged woman with short hair walking around here like she's the bride?"

"You just described every mom here."

"What about a teenager with long brown hair? Sarcastic? Angry?"

"I've only seen 1 teenager. She just went into the bathroom."

"Thanks."

Brooke opened the bathroom door. She heard a retching sound coming from one of the stalls.

"Sarah?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine."

"We? Is Sylvia in there with you?" Brooke's surprise colored the question.

"Yeah."

The toilet flushed and the door opened. Sarah and Sylvia came out. Sylvia's arm was around Sarah's shoulders for support. Sylvia's eyes were drooping. It didn't take a former party girl to realize she was drunk.

"Come on." Brooke's voice was tired and exasperated. She thought she would have fun at the Bridal Expo, but Sylvia had made it miserable.

* * *

Brooke didn't want Sarah stuck taking care of Sylvia, but Sarah already had Sylvia out of the car while Brooke was still locking the car and setting the alarm. She hurried in after them. When she got to the guest room, Sarah was laying Sylvia down on the bed.

"Thank you. Sarah, you are a good girl. And Brooke, you are wonderful," Sylvia said.

"And you are drunk," Brooke said.

Sarah went downstairs. Brooke thought she was leaving, but she was really going through the motions of taking care of a drunk. She'd gone through the same motions almost every day she lived with her mom.

"Thank you for loving my Julian," Sylvia said.

"He makes it easy," Brooke said.

"He is so happy and that means the world to me. Oh, I always wanted a daughter and today was just everything that I dreamed it would be."

"I had fun, too. Get some sleep."

Sarah returned. She handed Sylvia 2 pills and a glass of water.

"Sylvia, can you take these? They'll make you feel better?" Sarah spoke like she would to a small child.

Sylvia accepted the pills and swallowed them dry.

"Good. Drink the water, too."

Sylvia took a few sips from the glass before handing it back to Sarah. Sarah set the glass on the nightstand. She took Sylvia's shoes off and put them on the floor. Brooke watched and knew Sarah had done this before. A teenager shouldn't be so used to taking care of adults.

"Please don't tell Julian that I was drinking. He worries." Sylvia made the last request as Brooke and Sarah left.

"It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. Julian loves you," Sarah said.

* * *

Sarah went straight to her room. The door shut practically in Brooke's face, but Brooke opened it and followed her in. Brooke sat down on the bed beside Sarah.

"Something tells me you've done that before," Brooke said. Sarah didn't say anything. She didn't want to talk about her mom, but Brooke wasn't going to give up that easy. "_Sarah_?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to talk to me."

"I don't want to talk to you." Sarah's response was flat, devoid of emotion.

"What did I ever do to make you so angry with me?"

"Are you kidding me? What did _I _do to deserve this? Living here is like being in prison. Actually, it's worse. In prison they at least let you smoke."

"You didn't have to do anything. You are 15 years old. You shouldn't be drinking or smoking or staying out all night. You shouldn't have to take care of yourself right now. You sure as hell shouldn't have to take care of your mom or Sylvia. You're mad at me because I'm the 1st one who has taken care of you." Brooke spoke slowly, emphasizing each word. She was calm, but stern.


	18. Chapter 18

Julian carefully slipped out of bed without waking Brooke up. He walked into the kitchen and saw his mom sitting at the table massaging her temples. To his surprise, Sarah was already up, too. Sarah set a Bloody Mary down gently in front of Sylvia.

"Don't you think it's a little early to start drinking?" Julian asked.

"Don't be silly. Mimosas and Bloody Marys are perfect for breakfast," Sylvia said. She took a sip of the drink Sarah had prepared for her. She closed her eyes and sighed in delight. "Sarah, this is wonderful. You should be a bartender."

"No, she shouldn't." Julian spoke quickly. "And you're not actually eating breakfast."

"That's because Brooke only has cereal. Doesn't she cook?"

"No, Mom. I'll go get breakfast. Sarah, will you keep me company?"

* * *

Julian drove toward the café.

"Where'd you learn how to make a Bloody Mary?" Julian's light tone was complemented by a friendly grin. Brooke had told him how fast her conversation with Sarah went downhill. He knew he wouldn't get anywhere if he was too serious.

"A hangover is the body craving more alcohol." Sarah's response had the slightest bit of sarcasm interwoven in it. Her lips formed into a knowing smirk.

"You shouldn't know that."

"Relax. It's my mom's hangover cure. Not mine. I sleep it off."

Julian decided to ignore the admittance of guilt and focus on the real issue. "I'm sure my mom's glad your mom discovered a cure. She's been suffering this whole time. I worry about her."

"At least she's a nice drunk."

"Your mom's not so nice?" Julian's tone was even. There was no judgment in his voice.

Sarah shrugged. Her mom wasn't half bad compared to her dad. Most people had a threshold for alcohol. At a certain point, they were happy and friendly. If they went beyond the point of no return, they became overemotional and ready for a fight. The term 'mean drunk' existed for a reason. "She gets pissed off. She was drunk when she kicked Tyler out."

"You're not going to take care of my mom anymore." It was a statement, not a plea.

If Sarah had taken Julian's statement as an order, she would have fought tooth and nail. She didn't take orders. But, she took it as him not wanting anyone else around his mom when she was drunk. She understood where he was coming from. She'd been embarrassed when her friends saw her mom drunk or high. "Okay. I was just trying to help."

"I know."

By the time Julian and Sarah returned with coffee and bagels, Brooke and Tyler had joined Sylvia at the table. Julian sat down beside Brooke. Underneath the table he found her hand and squeezed it. She looked at him. He inclined his head slightly and his lips curved into a faint smile. Without a word being spoken, she knew he'd talked to Sarah.

* * *

After breakfast, Sylvia went shopping and Tyler went to the river court. Brooke had been putting off visiting Victoria. She had to do it sooner or later. She decided now was as good a time as any. Julian could stay with Sarah.

"I'm going to visit my mom," Brooke said.

"You want me to go with you?" Julian asked.

Brooke shook her head. "No. I need to do this by myself."

"Can I come?" Sarah asked.

Brooke's lips formed into a concerned frown. She didn't need 2 guesses to know why Sarah wanted to go. Sarah wanted to see her mom. Brooke remembered when she saw Sarah visiting Mary at the prison. Mary was terrible. She said terrible things about both Sarah and Tyler. She slapped Sarah. Brooke didn't understand why Sarah would go back for more. It gave Brooke a new understanding of her own friends' frustration when she defended Victoria. "You're still grounded."

"You said I could leave the house when I'm with you. I went to Tyler's game and the Wedding Expo because _you_ wanted me to." It was an accusation. It was irrefutable proof that Brooke was being unfair.

Brooke sighed. Sarah had a right to see her mom. Brooke would be right there with her. What's the worst that could happen? "Alright, let's go. Tyler, do you want to go?"

"I don't want to see her." Tyler's response was quick. There was no hesitation. He didn't have to weigh his options.

* * *

Brooke and Sarah stopped at the desk to check in as visitors. The guard broke into a friendly smile when he saw Sarah.

"Hey Sarah. Where have you been?"

A guilty blush crept over Sarah's cheeks. She always made a point of visiting her mom once a week, but she hadn't been there in weeks. Between spraining her ankle and being grounded, she hadn't visited once since moving in with Brooke and Julian. "I haven't had time."

Brooke and Sarah clipped their visitor badges to their tops and walked through the women's correctional facility. The differences between them were stark. Brooke did not want to be there. She did not want to talk to Victoria. She was so far out of her comfort zone.

Sarah didn't like institutions, whether the institution was a school, a prison or a foster home. She didn't distinguish between them. She saw any institution as a way for those in power to control others. The people in control were teachers, the principal, police officers, prison guards, and foster parents. She looked at any interaction with them as a power struggle. She wanted to be in control of her own life. Her discomfort had everything to do with what the prison represented and nothing to do with the fact that they were in a prison with criminals. She saw the criminals as her allies in the fight for freedom.

They stepped out into the prison yard. Sarah's lips curved into an uncertain smile when she saw her mom. She quickened her pace, leaving Brooke behind, still looking for Victoria.

"Hi Sarah," Mary said.

"Hi Mom."

"I'm sorry," Mary and Sarah said in unison. They both stopped mid-sentence and chuckled.

"You go first," Sarah said.

"I'm sorry about what happened last time you came to visit." Mary didn't have to spell it out for Sarah. She was apologizing for slapping her. She always apologized after, but she wasn't truly sorry. If she were sorry, she would change. "When you didn't come to see me, I thought you wouldn't be able to forgive me. You were always the smart one, the good one. My daughter, the straight-A student. Who would have thought? I thought I did something right and then you told me you got arrested and I knew I'd failed."

Sarah wanted to laugh aloud at the irony. Everyone thought she was the spawn of Satan and her mom called her 'the good one.' Looking at the same story from a different point of view can change people's interpretation. Sarah caused Mary the least grief. Sarah didn't ditch school until after her mom went to prison. It didn't hurt Mary if Sarah drank, smoked, stayed out all night. When Tyler got in fights, Mary got angry phone calls. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"I love you, kid."

"I love you, too."

Sarah said goodbye to her mom and searched the prison yard for Brooke. She saw Brooke sitting at a picnic table across from a middle-aged brunette woman and walked toward them. She stopped short, unsure if she should intrude.

"Clothes Over Bros! What the hell is wrong with you? I leave you alone and you go back to being that stupid girl who follows her heart!"

Victoria's voice reached a volume that pierced Sarah's eardrums even from where she was standing, a few feet away. Sarah debated whether she should help or mind her own business. She approached the picnic table. "Hey Brooke. I'm ready whenever you are."

Brooke looked at Sarah, wondering how much she heard. "I'm ready." She didn't want to talk to her mother. Not now or ever again.

"I hope your visit went better than mine," Brooke said.

"It was good. What did you do to piss your mom off?"

"I told her that I'm giving up my company."

"I thought you lost your company."

Brooke shook her head. "No. I could have saved the company, but all of our investors would have lost the money they invested. I'm giving up everything so I can pay them back."

Sarah's lips parted in surprise. She saw Brooke as one of the people in power, who liked having control over others. Brooke was rich and successful. Sarah had seen first-hand how controlling Brooke could be. Brooke was trying to control her, to deprogram the troubled teen, brainwash her into submission. Now she saw Brooke in a different light. "That's pretty cool."

Brooke's eyebrows arched up. "It's cool that I'm losing everything? Leave it to you to be happy about this." Her sarcasm covered her hurt.

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry you're losing your company, but it's cool that you're giving it up for everyone else. Think about how many people would be hurt if you didn't. Most people wouldn't give a damn how many people they hurt."

Now it was Brooke's turn to be surprised. Sarah had never said anything complimentary to her before. "Thanks, Sarah."

* * *

When they got home, Tyler was unusually quiet. He didn't join in the conversation at dinner. Instead of watching TV with everyone after dinner, he went to his room. Brooke knocked on his door and opened it.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Brooke asked.

Tyler looked like he wanted to say something. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it abruptly. "It's nothing."

"You can talk to me about anything."

A blush crept over Tyler's cheeks. "Did you meet my mom?"

Brooke sat down beside Tyler on the bed. "Not today. I met her last time I went to see my mother. I saw Sarah talking to her."

Tyler looked down. His mom had always been an embarrassment. He could only imagine what someone like Brooke would think of someone like his mom. They were as different as night and day. Brooke was so together. She didn't even have kids and she was a great mom. Mary was falling apart at the seams. She shouldn't have had kids, but she had 2 she couldn't take care of. "I didn't want you to meet her."

Brooke nodded in comprehension. She looked at Tyler. His dark eyes were sad and scared. "Tyler, I love you. No matter what. It wouldn't matter if your mom was a mass murderer."

Tyler broke into a dimpled grin. "You're thinking of my dad." His tone told her it was a joke; his dad was in prison, but it wasn't for murder.

"You're not like them. You're a good kid. You are smart and talented, kind and caring."

"I don't know why Sarah even bothers visiting her. I don't want to see her. I hope she stays in prison." Tyler's tone hardened. His usual warmth and kindness was gone, replaced with cold uncaring. He couldn't care about his mom anymore. She had hurt him too much.

"You know, this your home now for as you want it to be, but you can still see your mom if you want to."

"I don't." There was no uncertainty in Tyler's voice.

It was hard for Brooke to resist breaking into a satisfied smile. Tyler would never choose his "real" mom over her. She could love him without fearing she would lose him. "I know how you feel. I don't want to see my mom ever again."

"What did she do?" There was an edge to Tyler's voice. Ready violence flashed into his eyes. He would go to bat for Brooke if anyone hurt her.

"She was never there for me when I was in high school. When I started my company, she suddenly wanted to be there. I didn't realize until later she was just using me. I told her I'm giving the company up today. She called me stupid for the last time."

"Stupid. That's my mom's pet name for me. But I kind of am. You're smart. I mean, you started your own company when you were in high school."

"Tyler, you are _not_ stupid. You had a really hard time in school because you're dyslexic. You've been making progress since you started working with the tutor. Your mom shouldn't have called you that. It wasn't right."


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:** Thank you for your reviews. Again, I'm using some of the dialogue from the show, but changing it to work with this story. This chapter is lacking in Tyler, but I have some story lines planned for Tyler in the next few chapters. I know some of you are getting tired of Sarah giving Brooke a hard time. I hope you'll give her some more time. I know where I want to take her character. You'll see moments where she lightens up on Brooke. In the last chapter, she complimented Brooke. In the chapter before, she apologized. In this chapter, she tries to help Brooke. But, they aren't going to have their big breakthrough for awhile. I've had mixed reviews of the teenagers (Melissa and Aaron). Some of you don't like the teenagers and some of you do. Let me know if you want more scenes with them or if you want me to do less of the teenage scene. I kind of like Aaron and Sarah. I had plans for them, but I don't want to write for characters that you're not enjoying reading about.

* * *

Brooke and Julian returned from Jamie's basketball game. Sylvia was flipping through a bridal magazine on the couch. Tyler and Sarah were nowhere to be seen.

"Sylvia, where are Tyler and Sarah?" Brooke asked.

"Oh, they went out."

"You said you would stay here with them." There was a hint of accusation in Brooke's statement. She stared disbelieving at Sylvia. Sylvia knew full well that Sarah was grounded.

"Yes, and I did."

"Okay, Mom, where did they go?" Julian asked.

"The river court."

"Sylvia, Sarah is grounded." Brooke's eyebrows arched up as she waited for an explanation.

"I know, dear, but she was going stir crazy in this house. Two weeks is a long time to ground a 15 year old. You have to give her some freedom. I gave Julian freedom and he was the most responsible kid."

"Mom, Sarah's had too much freedom," Julian said.

"Sylvia, you don't know what you're talking about. Julian's your son. He always had you looking out for him. Sarah's different. Her parents are in prison. She's been in some foster homes that weren't so good," Brooke said.

"If you don't want your home to be one of them, you need to give her a break," Sylvia said.

"Sarah needs to learn that there are consequences for her actions," Brooke said.

"What could a 15 year old do that is so bad? From what I've seen, she's been sweet and helpful."

"Mom, she was smoking at school," Julian said.

"And when we grounded her, she cut school and ran away," Brooke said.

"Honey, she's just going to run away again if you don't lighten up," Sylvia said.

"Mom, Sarah is our foster child, not yours. You have to respect our decisions," Julian said.

* * *

The Varsity basketball players were playing a not-so friendly game against the JV players at the river court. It was a tradition that started a few years ago. Aaron had only invited Tyler because he wanted to win and he knew JV wouldn't stand a chance against Tyler. Aaron also invited Sarah to come watch.

Aaron dribbled the ball and looked around frantically for someone who was open. No one was left unguarded. Aaron threw the ball to Tyler. Tyler caught it easily. He used fancy footwork to put some distance between him and the JV player guarding him and then sank a 3-pointer, winning the game for the Varsity players.

Melissa had been watching and cheering for Tyler. She hugged him and whispered in his ear. "Good game. Are you as good in bed as you are on the court?"

A blush crept over Tyler's cheeks. He laughed nervously. "Only one way to find out."

"In that case, do you want to come over to my house for a victory party? A private victory party."

Tyler let Melissa pull him to her car.

Aaron had been darting glances at Sarah throughout the game. He found her easily afterward.

"Thanks for coming," Aaron said.

"What kind of fake girlfriend would I be if I didn't go to my fake boyfriend's games?" Sarah smirked.

"You went above and beyond. You even cheered." Aaron broke into a smile as he teased her.

"I don't think Tyler heard. I didn't have to break up any fights. It was kind of disappointing."

Aaron gently traced Sarah's jaw line. "Does it still hurt?"

"Nah, I'm okay. But thank you for defending my honor." Sarah's teasing tone told him she didn't need him to do that, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

"What kind of fake boyfriend would I be if I didn't defend my fake girlfriend's honor?"

Sarah laughed and her expression settled into an amused smile. "The kind that knows his fake girlfriend and his fake girlfriend's brother can probably kick his ass."

"We didn't finish boxing. I think you were about to go down."

"Oh yeah? I think a rematch is in order."

"Any time, any place."

* * *

When Sarah walked through the door, Brooke, Julian and Sylvia were in the middle of a heated argument. They stopped when they saw her.

"Sarah, what part of you can leave the house to go to school and when you're with us didn't you understand? I know you have a good vocabulary. You got a perfect score on that section of the PSAT." Julian's statement was half-reprimand, half-teasing. He didn't raise his voice.

"Julian, I told her she could go out. Just because you're not happy with me is no reason to take it out on her," Sylvia said.

"Sylvia, we aren't talking to you. We're talking to Sarah." Brooke's tone was flat. Her expression was neutral as she spoke to Sylvia, but when she turned toward Sarah, her expression hardened.

"Sorry," Sarah said.

"Next time you leave this house, I want you to be with Julian or me. Okay?" It wasn't a question. It was a command. But, Brooke wanted Sarah to state that she understood for the record.

"Okay." Sarah agreed, but the frustration and annoyance were evident in her voice.

"Good. Now go to your room," Brooke said.

* * *

Julian stayed with Sarah and Brooke went to her lawyer's office. They weren't going to leave Sarah with Sylvia ever again. She sat at a long, empty table in a conference room. Her lawyer handed her paper after paper.

"And sign here."

Brooke signed her signature in the designated spot. She couldn't believe it was this easy to sign away her ownership of Clothes Over Bros. A few signatures and the company she'd built from scratch at age 17 wasn't hers anymore.

"Thank you, Ms. Davis. Now as of this moment, your ownership is terminated. You are no longer affiliated with the Clothes Over Bros brand."

How could she not be affiliated with it? It was _her_ brand. She _was_ Clothes Over Bros. She felt like she was losing a piece of herself that she could never get back. She loved her company. It occupied a place in her heart. Subconsciously she squeezed the pen in her hand tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"May I…have my pen?"

Brooke thrust her hand in the air and the lawyer pried it from her grasp.

* * *

When Brooke walked through the door, Sylvia was sitting at the breakfast bar making a phone call. After listening for a few minutes, Brooke realized the call was about _her_ wedding.

"Oh, Brooke, honey, I hope you don't mind, but I changed out those hand towels in your kitchen. Oh, and good news, I booked the room at The Oaks for your reception," Sylvia said.

"I can't afford it." Brooke's statement was tainted with bitterness. Beneath the bitterness was anger and frustration. She'd handed over the reigns to her company and she felt like Sylvia was taking the reigns on wedding planning. She didn't have anything.

"Now I did have to pull a few strings, but it is so lavish. I wish I had my reception there." Sylvia continued, unperturbed by Brooke's objection. Brooke couldn't tell if Sylvia hadn't heard her or was just choosing to ignore her.

"I said I can't afford it." Brooke didn't raise her voice, but this time the anger was unmistakable.

"Well, you don't have to, dear. I told you I'm taking care of it."

Brooke's frustrations were building up. She was at her boiling point. She struggled to gain control over her temper. Maybe if she explained the significance of today to Sylvia, Sylvia would realize it wasn't a good day to pick a fight with her. "I started my clothing line in high school. Did you know that? I made a website and sold clothes online and ever since that, that is who I've been. That's what I've been. Clothes Over Bros. Until today."

"Oh, honey, I know you're hurting, but I really don't know what that has to do with the wedding."

No such luck. And Brooke was done being patient. "When I took the line to New York, I had to attract investors and what I realized very quickly is that when you take their money, you take their input. I don't want to take your input. I'm sorry. I don't like The Oaks. I don't really like any of it." Brooke spoke quietly and with what she thought was admirable patience.

"Well, on your budget, there's always white bread sandwiches and a box of wine." But, apparently Sylvia was lacking sorely in patience. It was the 1st time Brooke took a stand and Sylvia wasn't having it.

"I just want a small wedding that I can afford. One that feels like mine."

"Okay, you can have your small wedding. You know, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You have been curt to me ever since I got here."

"I have not." Brooke thought she'd been very nice all things considered.

"Yes, you have, and I have news for you, missy, just because you're upset with your mother is no reason to take this out on me."

That was the last straw. Sylvia knew next to nothing about Brooke's relationship with Victoria and it had nothing to do with the topic at hand. "Just because your son is in love with me is no reason to take it out on my liquor cabinet!"

"You're a spoiled little bitch!"

"Fine, drinky!"

* * *

Sarah heard Brooke and Sylvia fighting from her room. She could tell Brooke was about to lose her temper. She'd been on the receiving end before, so she knew the tone of voice Brooke used when she was at her wit's end. She could imagine Brooke's expression perfectly.

Sarah knew Brooke was about to say something she would regret. Normally she would let Brooke go down in flames, especially after Brooke had yelled at her and sent her to her room. But, she was impressed that Brooke gave her company up. She didn't want Brooke to pay any more than she already had. She knew Brooke was angry and needed someone to take her anger out on. She'd been that person for her mom. She could be that person for Brooke. She was a better target than Sylvia.

When Sarah walked downstairs, Brooke stopped mid-sentence. She transferred her anger from Sylvia to Sarah. "I thought I told you to _go to your room_."

Sarah decided to provoke Brooke into letting it out while she was in the vicinity. Her lips formed into a sassy smirk she knew would irritate Brooke to no end. "You didn't say for how long."

"Well, I'm going to go," Sylvia said. She made an exit, not wanting to be in the crossfire.

"You are such a smartass!" Brooke raised her voice. The expression on her face matched her furious tone.

Sarah laughed as she started back up the stairs. She'd done what she came to do. Sylvia had left in one piece.

"This conversation is not over, young lady." Brooke's voice stopped Sarah.

"I'm sorry. Bring it on. You can do better than smartass. I've been called so much worse. Come on, give me your best shot."

On any other day, Brooke would have held her tongue. But not that day. After the lawyer and Sylvia, Brooke wanted to scream or hit something. She unleashed all her pent up anger at Sarah. She rose to the challenge. "You are 15 years old and you think you can say whatever you want to anyone, do whatever you want. You're wrong. There are rules. You're smart, but you act stupid. You could do whatever you wanted and you'd rather be like your mom. If you keep this up, you're gonna get your wish. You're on the fast track to prison. You'd rather do it on your own and fail trying than let us help you. You think you're a badass. Honey, you don't hold a candle to me when I was your age. Your parents slapped you around. Your foster dad threw you down a flight of stairs. You've spent your life being a punching bag. You don't know that you're better than that. You act tough, but you're weak. You feel a little embarrassed about the bruises. You think they make you weak."

Somewhere in the middle of the shots Brooke was taking, Sarah blushed and looked down. She waited for Brooke to let it all out and then slowly turned and started up the stairs. The truth hurt.


End file.
